Finally Figured it Out
by Raventhedarkgoddess
Summary: RavenxRobin. Sequal to Mistake. Two new villans are creating problems for the titans, as is the reaperence of two new friends. To top it all off, Slade is back after suppossed death. To Krazy4Robin. [Finished]
1. Finding

Raventhedarkgoddess: Okay, here's the sequal I mentioned. This is set about two months afterwards.   
  
Dis: I don't own the show Teen Titans!  
  
Chapter One: Fated Remeetings  
  
Raven Roth was seated in the center of her bed, meditating, her blue cloak brushing the sheets below her, causing a fold of blue agenst the white. She didn't glance up, absorbed in her own thoughts, when she randomly decided she was done and let herself rest agenst her mattress. She glanced around her room in silence.  
  
Two months had passed since the hassle with Slade and Terra. Raven had a scar that ran along her rib cage, but otherwise was not changed for the better or worse by the incident. She glanced at herself in her small mirror and her purple eyes caught the wisdom and secrets behind themselves in the mirror. At least, that was how Robin described them. She brushed back her straight, short hair and groaned. I don't wanna leave, she thought. You have a date to keep with Robin, she told herself.   
  
She smiled at the thought of Robin. She had been going out with him two months, but she felt that it may as well have been forever. He was so understanding....Get dressed, she snapped at herself. Sighing, she removed her cloak and pulled on her tight black skirt. Robin, she thought, had better be happy that I'm even showing up.  
  
Don't think like that, she argued with herself. You know you like him. What are you, in denial? She guessed she was. After all, she told herself, you never thought you would fall in love. Pulling on her black variation of her normal shoes, she half walked, half floated on her thoughts down the stairs. Robin was waiting for her, dressed plainly in a black t-shirt and jeans. Of course, he still had his mask on.  
  
Robin smiled when he saw her. "You look great. So, what do you want to do tonight?" He brushed back his shaggy, short black hair and took her hand. He wasn't kidding, she did look great. At least in my eyes, he told himself. She looked great to him even when she was a sick or tired and told him to go away.  
  
"I don't care, Robin. You know that." She walked down the last step to stand next to him, and he groaned and smacked her arm playfully. She knew that he didn't care, but she groaned right back and rolled her eyes.  
  
Starfire was standing there and she saw Robin and Raven laughing at each other. Robin said something that sounded like dinner and Raven nodded. Starfire watched them leave and went off to find Beast Boy, trying to fight down the feeling seeing Robin and Raven still gave her. She wasn't anger or even jelousy like she had in the begining, but she was still a little sad.   
  
Beast Boy took her in his arms when he saw her, moving her red hair out of her face as she touched his shoulders. She had that look in her green eyes, a glisten of tears, that he knew meant she was feeling bad about Robin again. He hoped she didn't start crying, because that would remind him of the terible time he'd held a sobbing Terra in his arms...Don't think about it, he told himself. Starfire put in a movie, wrenching away from him, and they sat side-by-side, laughing. The pain of their past relationships, for the moment, was put aside.  
  
Meanwhile, as Raven and Robin strattled Robin's motorcycle, Cyborg sat at his window, watching them while feeling depressed. Isn't there anyone in the world for me? This question had been running through his mind ever since Raven and Robin had gotten together. He had lost all chances with either of the other girls, and Terra was dead...At that moment, for no real reason, he thought about Lecita. She and her little sister Anna were miles away...So why was he thinking about her? He turned away from the window and went down into the darkened garage to work on the body of his car.  
  
Raven felt her hair fly back while she clutched onto Robin. He was flying, and Raven could tell they were headed for the section of the city she and Starfire and, if she wasn't being nasty, sometimes Terra, would browse. It was near Raven's favorite cafe, a tiny gothic place on the street corner. Robin swung around the corner and barely managed to slam on the brakes in time to stop. "I could hardly see it," he said lightly, trying to find something to talk to her about.  
  
Raven straighened the skirt around her pale legs. "Most people pass it by," she said. "Small place, I know most of the crowd. Are you sure you want to go in there? Some of the others are...extremely dark," she finished lamely. She also knew it cost a lot and didn't want to make Robin think fancy dinners were all she wanted from him.  
  
"Sure. Come on, Raven. So what if you know them? And I'm treating, since I wanted to come." Raven relised that she must have said about not wanting him to pay out loud and stammered out how sorry she was. "Raven, I've alread Never mind my wallet." The two of them walked inside the dark cafe, which Robin found rather full considering it's size.  
  
The owner saw Raven and literally ran over to where she stood, still in the shadows of the doorway. "Raven, we haven't seen you or your rather bright friend for some time." He relised that it wasn't Starfire in the doorway and brushed back his brown hair. He wasn't any older than nineteen, Robin was sure of that. His pale skin looked dark compared Raven, but he opened his mouth again. "Who's your new friend?" He asked curiously, eyeing Robin.  
  
"That's Robin. Is my table still avalible or not?" Raven looked rather cross with the owner now. "Seriously, Jack, I'm out for a good time with Robin." She gave him one of her normal killing glares. Without another word to either of them, Jack led them to a small table, perfect for three or four people and hidden in shadows.  
  
"There you are, Raven. Have...fun with your new friend." The owner left. Raven shot her glance around the resturant, trying to avoid Robin's questioning stare. Her eyes locked on the people she knew, then she turned back to face him. "I'm sorry about him. He and I were...Um..." Raven's cheeks became a firey red color. "I guess we were close at one point...I've known him since I was a kid."  
  
Robin lay his hand next to her's on the dark wood. "It's okay. I mean, it's harder for you than me. You had to see me with Star that whole time...And you had no one..." Robin blushed too, and he could tell Raven was trying VERY hard not to lose control over her emotions and blow Jack and the whole resturant to bits.  
  
Bit by bit the blushes faded and the two of them could look at each other again. A teenage girl, tall and clad in black, took orders. They started to talk, and Robin found his mind wandering back to Terra and Slade. He confessed that he still thought about it to Raven, and she listened to everything he had to say. She touched his shoulder lightly. "I know. You still think about it too, huh?" When he nodded, she went on. "It's okay, Robin. We all do, and we can't go back to how it used to be. We both knew going into this that we were going to fight. So just have a good time, okay?" Their food appered and they ate. Raven sat back, having finished before Robin, and was drinking her tea quietly, staring out the window. She could see the street perfectly, and was quite glad no one could see her sitting here with Robin.  
  
Two girls were running down the street towards the cafe. They burst through the door, looking terrified. Raven stared at them and every eye in the resturant turned to the strangers. One of them was clad in a black cloak that was oddly familer...  
  
Robin was startled to see Raven stand up and run over to the cloaked girls that had just burst in. The shorter of the two threw their arms around Raven and the older one started talking to her. They came back to the table and Raven looked at the older one. "Lecita, no one can see you. Take off your hood and talk to me."   
  
The figure reached up and took off her hood. Her dark eyes were set off agenst her dark skin, and the younger one removed her hood as well. Anna smiled at Raven as the tossed back her black hair, which was very short compared to her sister's. Lecita fingered the long black braid nervously. "Raven...We need your help. I need you to..."  
  
Raven flung out her right hand and placed it over Lecita's mouth. She gave the room a quick, quiet glance and shook her head. "Shhhhhhhh...Not here." Raven flagged down the waiter for the bill. Robin sighed with relif when he saw that it was a decent price considering that they had both enjoyed the food. Jack was maning the cash register, and Raven groaned softly from behind Robin. He could see in her face that she didn't want to talk to him again that night.  
  
"Wait outside," Robin told her in an insistent tone. Raven didn't need telling twice, and headed outside with the two sisters, both talking to her at once. Jack looked up when Robin came over. "Leaving so soon?" Jack sneered. "Then show me your bill. I need to add on the cost of Miss Roth's private table."   
  
Robin looked at him. If Raven always had access to that table, then why did she have to pay for it? "Whoa, wait one minute. So you liked her at one point. Is that any reason for you to charge me more than you have to?" Robin looked at him. "I'm only paying you what's on the bill."  
  
"You little runt." Jack's ears turned red. "Yes, I liked her. It's not really any of your concern. You're also right, it doesn't cost extra. She left me for that stupid group, the Teen Titans. You're a part of it, I can tell. Don't let me catch you outside this restuarnt where your girlfriend can't see." Snatching the money Robin held up, Jack turned away from him, muttering.  
  
Robin walked out without another word. Some people have nerve, he thought. Stupid asshole...Fuming, he almost ran right into Raven and Lectia. Anna was standing away from the door in the pouring rain that had just started. "I'm going to call Cyborg...We can't all fit on the motorcycle." Raven held out her hand and Robin dropped a quarter into her palm. Raven, as she waited for someone to pick up, wondered what the sisters problem was. She also wondered if she and Robin had met up with them again by accident. Or was this a fated remeeting?  
  
Starfire answered with her usual good cheer. "Raven? Has something happened? Are you injured?" Starfire rattled on for about five minutes, and Raven had to hold out her hand for another quarter before she could calm her down enough to get in the words, "Put Cy on, will you?"  
  
Cyborg's warm voice came over the connection. "You okay, Rave?" She explained what was going on to him and he started the car, preparing to come to them. Lecita...he thought. For some reason, thinking about her made him happy. Raven flagged him down with her right hand and the three soaked girls climbed into the car, while Robin followed on his motorcycle.  
  
Once at home, Starfire hugged Lecita and Anna at the same time. The girls banged heads and frowned, but they looked around the tower and Anna remarked that it felt like home. Raven saw that they hadn't really slept in days and told Cyborg to go cook while Anna and Lecita were sent up to the bathroom.   
  
When they were at the table with dinner for them and the three titans who hadn't eaten, Lecita looked at Raven and heaved a long sigh. "I'm kinda in trouble. The agency is after me. Plus this guy showed up and tried to burn our house down..." Lecita trailed off and took a deep breath. "I am so screwed. Can I just start at the begening?" Raven, who couldn't understand why Lecita was so close to tears, nodded. Lecita began to tell the story of the last two months.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Okay, what do you think? Good? Bad? Does it SUCK? Tell me! Reveiw! 


	2. I can only stretch so far

Raventhedarkgoddess: Yay! Reveiws! I like reveiws! Thank you for reviewing! No more babble, here's chapter two.   
  
Chapter Two: Measuring Love  
  
Lecita took a heavy, shuddering breath and looked once or twice around the group of the Titans, all of whom had sat down as close as they could to their usual spots while still allowing Lecita to sit in the middle. She was on the familer, worn blue couch were she had spent her first night with her sister in anicipation for Raven's life. Now the group around them was waiting for her to tell her story. Not removing her hand from Anna's shoulder, Lecita started talking very fast, sure she would be in better hands if the team knew what was going on in her life.  
  
"Well," she started off in a small voice, "I left here and we headed straight out of town. I really didn't want to stay here and be reminded of that night...The night you guys risked everything. So we left. Well, the agency finally tracked me." Here she became a little stronger, but her voice still shook a little. "Terra and Slade were found and at first everyone thought Anna died. But then they found out that she didn't. Someone, one of her schoolmates, saw us blow town, and the agent remembered me and Anna as problem children. They chased us down and, when they found us, wanted me to give up my sister and come back for a year."  
  
Anna stopped her for a second. "We were living in a really small apartment," she said in a gravely and yet childish voice that was stronger than that of her older sister, "And Lecita had a job. They wanted to take me, but I refused. We blew town that night, too. We ended up climbing out a window. I found a really old barn. Lecita didn't want to go in. I think she was afraid of rats. Anyway, we were asleep in there and there was this voice outside..." She broke off at the thought.  
  
"Male and then a female voice. Don't ask me who the hell they were. I thought they thought we were tresspassing. Suddenly it got really quiet. Anna asked me if I thought the hay was hot, but I told her not to be silly. And then we noticed...The whole place was burning. We got out, and there was this paper on the ground..." Now Lecita couldn't talk and Anna took over again, having lost the thoughtful look. Now she appered almost determined to finish.  
  
"It was a note. A fake suicide note, suppossed to have been written by Lecita. It wasn't even her handwriting, and they spelled Lecita wrong. It was terrible, what they said. They said that her life ment nothing anymore and that she was ending her life and taking mine too, so that we could be together in death. Then we relised that it wasn't an accident. Lecita and I agreed to come back here. So you could help us. You will, right?" Her voice was almost pleading.  
  
Raven seemed to recover her head the quickest. "Well, of course. What makes you think we wouldn't? I said it once and I'll say it to you again: My friends mean the world to me." She stood up and walked around the back of the couch. "Who would think you, of all people, would commit suicide?" Lecita just shook her head.  
  
"Raven, can I talk to you for a second?" Without waiting for her answer, Robin yanked her by the back of her blue cloak into the kitchen, hoping not to be overheard. "Raven, what are you thinking? What goes on in that head of yours, anyway? We can't risk the whole team, everything and everyone, for one thing. I mean, didn't almost dying once teach you anything?" Robin set his hand on her shoulder. "It's great that you're concerned, but I don't want you to die or anything crazy like that." Robin locked his eyes with hers for a second, and she held them there.  
  
"Robin, I want you to hear me out. Just listen. Everyone has their limits. Mine stop at death for an evil cause. This is not my limit. I will keep going until either Anna and Lecita are safe or I'm dead. The only thing I refuse to do is die at evil hands. I don't know, Robin, if you understand this or not, but with a father like Trigon you learn to want to be anything but what he wants you to be. I'm going. I didn't say I was risking the whole team. Stay if you want. But there are some things just worth dying for," she hissed, in a soft voice that was barley audioble over the random clammer outside the door.  
  
Beast Boy was sprawled on the ground, having fallen off Starfire's shoulders a few seconds before. Brushing her flaming red hair back, she knelt next to him. "You are uninjured, yes?" She helped him to his feet.  
  
"Yep, I'm fine. All I know, though, is that it's Raven's turn to speak, Robin has a hand on her shoulder, and their eyes have locked like it's a staring death match." The changling brushed himself off. Lecita made a sound in her throat. "I hope this isn't my fault," she thought aloud to no one in particular.  
  
"It is not your fault, friend. Do not feel regret or sorrow. Do not feel them for an instent." Starfire smiled, hoping that Lecita didn't feel even worse if things didn't go well between the two talking in the kitchen. Raven came out about half a second before Robin, who was still talking to her.  
  
"Raven, things are worth dying for. But I'm just worried that...Well, you risk it all so freely, like dying isn't a problem for you." Robin met her eyes again, determined to get her to at least look at him. "Raven, you don't seem to relise that my reactions are because I don't want you to die." Robin had managed to stop her, but, instead of quitting while he was ahead, took her hand. "You know I care, right?"  
  
Raven let her hand sit in his. "Robin, I told you before, the only way I don't want to die is at the hands of someone as cruel and merciless as my father and say I did nothing to help try to stop him. I"m trying to stop whoever these people are from rising to power. Every villan wants something, Robin. I don't want any villan to get it, no matter how great the price. I love you as much as you love me. I know that. But, if you aren't willing to let me go and do what I want, if I can't get support...Love can only stretch so far. I will die for you, but not be held back by you. Understand?" Her voice was hard, almost gravely, but it flowed over her words as lightly as a stream around the jagged rocks hidden below her voice. She knew her emotions were as sharp as rocks.  
  
Beast Boy felt both eyes grow wide in his head, staring at the quiet Raven and the stunned Robin. Next to him, Starfire looked startled at the scene. She was questioning if she would say the same to Beast Boy or if she would have said it to Robin. Earthen love, she thought, is most complicated.  
  
Robin sighed heavely and found that now his eyes were the ones held by hers. Her violet eyes reflected more emotion than he'd ever seen before. He gimsped love, sorrow, hatred, and...Is that pain? Does this really bother her that much? He thought. She blinked and seemed to control herself, and everything he saw was gone. "Raven, I'm not going to stop you. I'm going to come with you. Everyone is, right?" His eyes dared the team to disagree.  
  
"Of course. I mean, come on, friends don't just give up on friends. We're all going into this." Cyborg gave them a smile that was pretty much the first one all day. Lecita was astonished to hear her own breath come out in a whoosh. She didn't relise that she had been holding it. Raven gave Robin a wordless hug and the two broke apart quickly. Robin saw that Raven was more than he had ever seen before. She's going to be hard to hold onto, he thought. Oh, who ever said it was going to be easy?  
  
Cyborg, asending the stairs, looked over his shoulder at Lecita, who was laying herself out on the couch with Anna for the night. He smiled, because everything Raven had just said now made sense. Trying to tell himself that he was being an idiot, he followed the others up the stairs and went into his room, still smiling.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: There we go. Chapter two. Good or bad? 


	3. Back From the dead?

Raventhedarkgoddess: Time to write chapter three. Thank you for reveiwing. Oh, and everyone who's sending me flames through my e-mail, I really don't care. Same with the ones that are giving 'opinions' that rule over my writing style on how I should do this. You know who you are and I really don't care what you think. Okay, enough. Chapter Three.  
  
Chapter Three: Death's Rebirth  
  
The next morning, Raven lay alone in the center of her room. Sun came in very vaugely through her black curtains, striking her face and luminating the mirror next to her. She sighed, one hand caressing the mirror's handle, and lifted herself into a sitting position. There's so much going on that I don't understand...I don't understand the things I said, or even what I meant last night. She placed the mirror on her bedside table in order to hold her head with both hands. Trying to ignore the fact that she needed to use the mirror and the fact that her head was pounding agenst the side of her skull, Raven stood up and headed downstairs.  
  
Robin was standing in the kitchen and ran over to her. "Do you, by any chance, have any idea how long you slept? It's already the afternoon! Are you feeling okay? Raven, I'm sorry if I upset you last night...I..."  
  
Raven put one hand over his mouth. "Don't talk." She reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a small bottle of headache medicine, forced two pills into the back of her throat, and turned back to Robin. By now, the others were looking at her with concern. The only time Raven had taken medicine before now had been in the hospital, and she had not been very willing once she was awake again. "Robin, I just need a little quiet. Really, I'm okay." She removed her hand and brushed his hair away from his face.  
  
"Raven, you are most quiet. You have slept very late. You must be catching some earthen disese! Eat and relax!" Starfire almost forced Raven into a chair and brought out rewarmed breakfast. The others left her alone to eat while Starfire hovered over her, chattering and expressing her concern. "Who do you think you are?" Raven finally snapped at Starfire. "You aren't my mother, you know. I can take care of myself. Really." She finished off the eggs and rose from her seat, disapering through the door frame.  
  
Starfire went into the living room and found Beast Boy, who had just been defeated in a race and was fuming. She went over and gave him a hug, and he turned to her. "I fear I have angered Raven," she said in a soft voice.  
  
Beast Boy sighed. Raven had a thin layer of patence, he knew that first-hand. But why, he thought, would she snap at Starfire? Why would anyone snap at Starfire? Sure, her perkiness was always one of Raven's setbacks, but... He broke out of his thoughts. "What makes you think you made her mad?" He tried to keep his voice calm and even, hoping Starfire didn't think he was accusing her.  
  
"She became very angry and told me I was not her mother. Does Raven think I do not know I am not her mother? I am mearly watching out for my friends, the way I should." She leaned into Beast Boy's shoulder, almost crying but trying her hardest to fight off the tears. No more, she snapped at herself, but it did not good and one pearly tear slid the whole way down her face and rested agenst her red hair.  
  
"Raven...She's just a little upset right now. I mean, she and Robin are having that whole thing...She never talks about her mother. Star, I don't think that's someone she likes being reminded of." Beast Boy kept his voice low, one hand stroking her hair as he muttered false words of comfort that he himself didn't belive for a second.  
  
Cyborg sighed loudly as an alarm went off upstairs. Dropping the filthy rag he was using to polish his car, he ran out of the garage and up the stairs. Almost running into each other, the titans stood around the video screen. Robin told them there was a tip-off about a pyro down at the bank threatening to burn people if they didn't hand over the money. "People just get weirder and weirder. Well, Anna and Lecita can go in Cyborg's car." Raven stood up, trying to ignore her head. Robin just gawked at her. When, he thought, did she get it in her head that it's okay for her to take my leading job? More shocking to him was when everyone started off without hestitaion.   
  
Robin sighed again, parking his motorcycle at the sight of the bank five minutes later. A few small fires had started all over the property. Raven went in without hesitation and the others followed. Lecita pulled out a sharp knife that made Raven remember the last time she'd seen her with one, threatening Raven as she took her off to Slade. This is not the time to dredge up the past, she told herself in a slow, calm way.  
  
Robin lept in on the man as Raven grabbed his lighter and Cyborg slammed him into a wall. "Who are you working for? What are you doing here? Who are you?" The seven teenagers covered him in an instent. Raven held one hand next to his throat.  
  
Instead of acting scared, the man laughed. "Death's rebirth is on it's way. The man you belive dead will rise, two new fledgings in his wake. The one you think dead will rise, taking down those who ruined his plan last time. Robin, you will be his slave, as has always been your fate. You are all delaying the inevitable!" The laughter in his voice became cruel, almost insane, and Starfire drew back agenst Lecita. "Enough!" Lecita hollered. "Shut up, crazy man!"  
  
The cops arived on the scene. "Thank you once again, Titans." They left without a word to anyone. Lecita had grabbed onto Cyborg's arm. Cyborg, despite what they had just heard, smiled and allowed her to clutch his arm the whole way back to the car. Robin, as soon as they were in the living room, began a nervous pacing. "Will you quit that?" Anna frowned at him. Lecita nodded in agreement with her sister.  
  
Robin sank down next to Raven and Cyborg. "He's dead. I killed him. Him and Terra. I saw him die. This really isn't possible." Robin ran his hands through his hair, muttering. Raven set her hand on his shoulder. "Robin! Just stop!" Lecita had finally spoken up. "You need to think!" Lecita pulled on her black braid with her pale fingers.  
  
Robin cleared his head enough to leave the room, followed by Raven. "Accept it, Robin. Slade wants you to think you're crazy." She cupped her hands and forced him to look into her eyes. The pain was back in them, startling Robin into looking at her. "If I lose you to insanity, that would be worse than if you died fighting." Robin saw sadness cross them. "Remember the time we spent together after you thought you killed Slade and Terra? Robin, you want time like that again too. Admit it. The way is to find him and the fledglings and take them down now."  
  
Lecita watched this. I kinda wish, she thought, that I had a boyfriend. Then, for some reason, she thought of Cyborg. Shaking that off, she left Raven and Robin alone and headed off to talk to Anna.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Yay, I accually came up with a real plot for this. Reveiw. 


	4. Thought it was Simple

Raventhedarkgoddess: Pushing onward because I have way too much fun writing...Here's chapter four.   
  
Chapter Four: Thought It Was Simple  
  
Robin leaned his head into the cool glass of the window of his room, staring out over the city and wishing he hadn't told Raven to go to bed. She'd be willing to talk to me if I needed it...Robin sighed, his brain feeling squeezed dry by all of the thoughts that had crossed his mind. Raven was the only comforting one. She was willing to tell me I'd be fine even if I had killed them, he thought, remembering sitting with her on the window seat two months before. Robin wished she was next to him now.  
  
He moved over to the bed and lay back agenst the pillow, trying very hard to sleep. Looking up at the celing, he thought about Slade. He tried to kill Raven, he thought. He deserves to die. When we see him, I'll make sure he pays.... Staring at the ceiling over his head and thinking of both twisted hatred mingled with love, he fell into a sleep broken only by his own fear coming to haunt him in his dreams.  
  
The next morning he was the one to sleep late. Raven entered his room and took his shoulder, gently shaking him awake. "Robin, come on. Get up. Starfire is throwing her hands around and I'm afraid she's going to him someone or something." Robin opened his eyes and stared at her, sitting up and relising he was still fully dressed. Raven gave him a grateful look and, at the top of her voice so that she would be heard over Starfire's paniced shreiks and muttering, yelled, "He's fine!"  
  
Raven rolled her eyes at the celing as a shout that sounded like 'glorious!' was heard. Robin gave a little laugh. "Feeling like yourself?" Robin smiled. Typical Raven, he thought. "Well, I guess I slept a little long..." His eye caught his bedside alarm as Raven smirked at him. "Errrrrrr..........Three o' clock isn't that late..." Robin said, embarressed. He blushed slightly as Raven gave a rare laugh and the two of them headed down the stairs, Robin trying to get Raven to quit teasing him by giving her playful shoves. She ended that by sending him the whole way down.  
  
Robin's head landed at Lecita's feet. She had one arm around Anna and both of them were laughing. Robin got up and started yelling, furious that Raven had tripped him. Beast Boy saw that she was flat-out laughing. I could never make her laugh like that, he thought, almost sadly. Raven stuck her tounge out and Starfire, as if she felt the same way with Robin laughing so close at hand, put her arm around him and leaned agenst his shoulder. "You drunk or what, man?" Cyborg tried to make light of everything going on. Everyone has someone, he thought, and his eyes did the familer flicker in Lecita's direction.   
  
Something was different this time, though. Lecita was looking right at him, and their eyes locked breifly. He studied hers, the misty dark brown color that was studing his, and then she broke away, blushing slightly. She fingered her long hair again, and Cyborg couldn't help himself. He looked over at her, and she looked back over. The two of them finally broke away as Anna said something about lunch. Robin downed the sandwitches the girls had made with a raconous hunger, causing Raven to keep using her powers to sheild herself from flying crumbs. "Chew with your damn mouths open, why don't you?" She said in a low voice that had a light edge.  
  
"He couldn't do that anymore." Beast Boy, unlike Raven, had no sheild to congure at will and was getting sprayed with half-chewed cheese. Robin laughed and sprayed Beast Boy again. "That is so gross." Raven left the kitchen and could be seen on the edge of the couch, reading a large book of poetry that Cyborg could tell was her Edgar Allen Poe book. It took him a few minutes to relise that Lecita was talking to him.  
  
"Cyborg, could we go somewhere? I mean, you and me." She had this odd look on her face that Cyborg couldn't quite place. Too stunned to do anything else, he nodded. She beconed for him to follow her into the garage. He noticed that Raven gave Lecita the faintest smile and looked up from her book as she passed and Cyborg wondered if Raven was in on this somehow.  
  
Lecita suggested the local pizza joint and Cyborg agreed. The two of them drove along, talking and laughing. This isn't the hard part, Lecita told herself. The hard part is going to be telling him...Raven told you it wouldn't be easy. She remembered the previous night. She had asked Raven if it was okay to fall in love while having so many other problems. Raven had been honset. "You're crushing on Cy, right?" She hadn't wasted time, so Lecita nodded. "Take him somewhere and tell him," she'd said. Raven hadn't said 'If he doesn't like you.' She'd said, "See you and Cy later."  
  
"Um......Wanna get OUT of the car?" Cyborg brushed her hand lightly with his own and she jumped to get out of the car. The two of them took a seat at an outdoor table and Lecita tried to apper relaxed. She noticed, around the same time Cyborg did, that she was wearing a long blue skirt and a black tank-top and had accually brushed her hair so that it hung loosely down to the top of her shoes. "Man, you look good," he said slowly, before he could stop himself.  
  
"Thanks." Crap, she thought, I wasn't supposed to get dressed up! She could almost hear Raven telling her what she shouldn't have done later. I thought this was simple, I really did. I mean, Starfire has Beast Boy and Raven and Robin are made for each other...Maybe I shouldn't have come back. This could ruin everything. I mean, if he doesn't like me...  
  
Cyborg was too busy eating a pizza to notice Lecita's lag in converstaion. Typical male, but give him a break, she told herself. I mean, at least he listens when you talk. "Cyborg, can I ask you something?" Lecita knew she had to do it and took his hand vaugly, wondering if he could feel the sweat pouring from it. Her heart hammered her ribs with such force that she worried that Cyborg could both hear and see it.  
  
"Sure." Cyborg set aside his pizza and looked over at her. What if she wants to ask me why I'm staring at her? What if she wants to ask me to quit? What if she wants to ask me why I like her? What if she wants to tell me that I need to quit staring. Maybe...Pull yourself together, he snapped at himself edgily. Too many maybes. Just roll with whatever she throws at you, and try not to act disapointed...  
  
"I....." Lecita's words were drowned out by a loud cry in a familer voice. Raven came floating toward them hurriedly, her hair tangeled as she tried to brush it out of her eyes. She gave up as she unsnagged her hand. "You two, trouble!" Everyone else in the restaurant turned to look at them, and Lecita felt her previous courage and hope ebbing away into nothing. The two of them followed Raven. "Slade." She said it with anger lacing her usual monotone, and Lecita relised that they were in for a long haul of a battle.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Okay. That's the end of chapter four. Reveiw, please! 


	5. Pouring

Raventhedarkgoddess: All done with my math finals...I find this boring. I think I'll write another chapter.  
  
Chapter Five: Pouring  
  
Lecita tried to down her feelings of hurt and annoyence as she climbed into Cyborg's car. Anna climbed in next to her and Lecita knew she couldn't say what was on her mind to Cyborg anymore, and she let out an unknowing sigh of extreme fustration. So close, she said to herself. "Lecita, what are you sighing about?" Anna noticed the look on her sister's face and immeditatly thought the worst.  
  
Lecita, wrapped up in thoughts, gave a slight jerk upright when Anna leaned in and put her hand on her shoulder. "Just thinking." Lecita hated lying to Anna. That's not a lie, though, she told herself. Cyborg wheeled around and parked wildly behind Robin's motorcycle, all three of them leaping out before the T-car had completly stopped. They ran, the only grounded members aside from Robin, after the team, all of whom were entering the warehouse far ahead of them.  
  
Raven was the first one to notice the tiny bits of crumbling celing falling from the rickty wooden rafters of the abandoned warehouse as if hurled by an invisable force. Something is up there, she thought as a peice too large to have fallen on it's own flew dangerously close to her head. "Robin," she whispered gently to him, grabbing his arm, "Does it seem odd to you that the celing wasn't falling in on our heads five seconds ago and is now?"  
  
"Don't be silly, Ray. I'm not in the..." The rest of his reply was cut off by a hurling chunk that made him wince when it sliced his arm. Raven gave him one of her stares. God, she's right, Robin thought. He hated nothing more than to be proven wrong, something Raven seemed very skilled at. "Um........Everyone, look in the rafters." Raven gave him her little nod of approvel, and Robin ground his teeth. Don't yell at her, he thought. You two need to stick together.  
  
Lecita couldn't belive it as she found two odd people standing there. Raven was right, she thought in awe. Both had hidden their bodies in cloaks, long and black, and the closer of the two jumped as soon as they saw Lecita standing there, quietly staring at them. The girl missed Lecita by about three inches, falling from the rafters to the floor. Lecita shoved the other one, and Cyborg moved in to cover the him. "Who are you?", Robin was demanding as she climbed down. Anna came over and stood next to her, everyone with drawn weapons. Anna had taken to using one of her sister's daggers, and she swung it around.  
  
The first one tried to get up, but Robin refused to risk letting them escape. "It's rude to hit a lady," she said serenly, her voice crowded with a dark edge as she brushed off her legs and pulled the cloak back around her. Robin let out a snort and turned to the other one, who was standing up.   
  
"I'm someone you've heard about." The other figure smirked. "In fact, we were mentioned to you last night...Fledglings, right?" The only thing Raven could see was his eyes, but something about his voice unsettled her. Do I know him?, she found herself thinking. Do I know him at all? She shook the sensation quickly.  
  
Beast Boy let out a yell as the girl charged at him and knocked him flat onto his face. Cyborg was preparing to aim at the boy, but he was forced to move himself out of the way when the girl him the side of his head. Lecita felt a pulsing fury at the girl for thinking that she had any right to touch Cyborg and was ready to take her out when the boy, now free to move, struck Starfire. Starfire fired a starbolt at nothing due to the shove and ended up destryoing part of the celing.  
  
Beast Boy found himself laying under the chunk of celing and groaned. Starfire, in her attempt to free him, moved away from the door she had been covering. Both flee out it, despite Raven's frantic attempts to stop them. Robin swore quite loudly, then came over to help the others with Beast Boy.  
  
Raven used her mind to free him, standing straight up when she got a good look at Starfire's face where the man had slapped her. "We've got to chase them. Find the bait, find Slade. It's that simple." Robin turned to the door. "After them, Titans!"  
  
Robin looked back from the doorway, only to see the others still crowding around Beast Boy and Starfire. Starfire's face was gushing blood, and Beast Boy's right arm was mangled beneith him. "We can't, Robin." Raven touched Starfire's cheek and the other girl winced slighly. "I'll take care of them at the tower. Anna, Lecita, Cyborg... Go with Robin." She took Robin's hand breifly. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. Learn what you can," she hissed softly into his ear.  
  
"What makes you think I would push it?" Robin hugged her to him, but they broke apart in haste, each getting ready to hold their own. Raven did not answer him, but left with the other two, Starfire supporting Beast Boy's arm.  
  
Lecita nervously stepped closer to Cyborg, who had started walking fast toward the car. Robin fixed his helmet over his head as Cyborg's long strides, Lecita struggling to keep up and Anna running after them, lead them to the car. Speeding along into the night, Anna looked at her sister, who had climbed into the front seat where Raven often sat and was talking to Cyborg.   
  
Given the circumstances, Anna thought, she seems relaxed. And then it hit her in the face why Lecita was dressed up and where she had gone with Cyborg. She could have told me, Anna thought indigently. Cyborg gave a smile and appered less stressed than before. They really like each other, she relised. Where will I be, she thought, if she joins the team?  
  
"Sissy?" Lecita was looking at her in concern. "Sweetie?" Anna felt both hate and love coming up inside her. That's your sister, she snapped at herself. But, argued a part of her, did she tell you who she liked? No, she told the voice. But still...Anna got up and headed for the battle, all the while fighting the battle of uncerentiy within her mind as the rain started pouring down around them.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Well, there we go. Something good came out of those finals. Please reveiw! 


	6. A Little Bit of Hell

Raventhedarkgoddess: I have way too much time on my hands...So I'll write an update. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter Six: A Little Bit Of Hell  
  
Raven sat on the worn couch between Starfire and Beast Boy, both of whom were spouting their injuries. Raven looked at Starfire's face and attempted to touch it again to see if it needed her help or could heal on it's own. Starfire winced again and Raven decided that if she could stop the bleeding the only risk Starfire would run was a small scar along the side of her face. Throwing her a small compress and giving vauge instructions, she turned back to Beast Boy's arm.   
  
The damage was obivous. His arm was cracked and bent, and the blood gushed from his arm in rivers. Raven had his arm set on a cloth and he cried out if Raven touched it. She groaned and decided that a little healing magic was in order, and took his arm firmly in one hand. "Dude, get off me!" He winced and fell silent, and she placed her other hand onto his arm. "Azarath Metrion Zithos." Beast Boy let out a little groan and then a sigh of relif as the blood stopped pouring it's crimson color onto the towel and his arm straighted so that it no longer hurt him to have the weight of both Raven's hands on it.  
  
Starfire wiped the blood away from her face. "Go stand in front of a mirror and try that, will you?" Raven looked over, not caring but able to tell that it was upsetting Beast Boy to see her covered in the aftermath of everything the Teen Titans stood for. Starfire left the room, wondering why exactly she always counted Raven a friend. After all, she said to herself, she has many secrets, a darkned room, and the boy I wish to have. She splashed herself hard in the eye when she thought about Raven and Robin together. Am I truly happy with Beast Boy? She thought, and then she relised why people on Earth fought so much. I must be happy with what I have, she thought.  
  
Beast Boy cares for me, she told herself. I cannot shatter his feelings with my own selfish ones. She came into the living room in time to see Beast Boy crack some stupid joke and Raven roll her eyes at the celing. If he cares, said Starfire in her head, why must he always joke with Raven? Raven checked to make sure his arm was straight one last time and stood up. Looking at Starfire's cheek, she nodded her approval to herself. "You'll be fine," she said in her usual monotone, so unlike the voice she used with Robin that it made Starfire wince.  
  
"Ya, it's going to hurt," Raven said, mistaking the wince of distrust for a wince of pain. "You're in fighting condition, though." Starfire's face took on a colder look, but she said nothing.  
  
"Well, we really need to get going. I mean, they're gonna need backup, right?" Beast Boy said, looking at both girls with one eyebrow raised, trying to figure out when Starfire had adopted the colder look on her face.  
  
"Let's go." Raven said nothing else as the three of them took to the sky. We don't even know where they are, she thought. In fact, I'm not sure why he's chasing them in the first place. I mean, why? What are we doing this for? Is Robin just being selfish? Am I the selfish one, thinking this way? She didn't even seem to notice the fight scene below them until Beast Boy pecked her, hard, on the shoulder.  
  
The two nameless figures turned back to face the remaining members of the group, cornered agenst a small wall in the back of a dark alleyway. "I don't like chasing you anymore than you like being chased!" Lecita yelled at them. "Why don't you just give it up and tell us what you know about Slade?" Acually, Lecita and Anna, having no super-powers, were praying that they could go back to Titan Tower and get some sleep.  
  
"Keep dreaming, girl!" The dark-cloaked female snapped. "If you think people give up that easily, you'd better reconsider!" She let out a cold little laugh. "Calm and reasoning won't work." Although they couldn't see the eyes of either figure, Lecita could feel both sets of eyes boring into her. "So, are you going to back down, or are we here to fight? Because we are more than ready to fight the infamous, if not a little scattered, Teen Titans." Lecita took the edge on the voice for a cocky smirk that made her furious.  
  
"We aren't scared of a couple of bad-mouthing black-cloaked wackos working under someone insane. You're on!" Robin lept in to meet the boy, who had run forward as soon as Robin called him a wacko. "Titans, go!" The two of them began clashing, Robin pulling out his rod to block the boy's repeditive kicks. Meanwhile, the other girl lept at Anna and Lecita.  
  
Lecita, already in a bad mood, decided to combat the girl on her own and shoved Anna back, away from harm. Anna felt indigent, staring at Lecita. I'm not just some dumb kid she can keep shoving aside, Anna said to herself angrily. What do I even mean to her anymore? Anna watched as Lecita made a desprate half-turn and landed hard agenst the cracking pavement. "I told you nothing was that easy. You're about to find out that it's probably easier to die than live." The girl moved closer to the fallen teenager and Anna prepared to leap in.   
  
The girl had just reached Lecita's side and was preparing a blow that was sure to end Lecita's life when a blast of blue light struck her hand and caused her to back away. "I won't be so nice next time," warned the voice of her rescuer. Lecita turned to see Cyborg coming in toward the girl, preparing to snatch the cloak away from her.  
  
Meanwhile, Robinn and the boy were backing further and further away from the others, still locked in a kicking, punching battle. "You're just like the stories, Robin. Good. But are you good enough to best this?" Robin, caught off-guard, fell and the boy drew a small dagger from his sleeve. "Now I'll be in those stories, and this shall be remembered as the day the Titans fell." Moving in, he didn't see the blast of energy until he was down on both knees.  
  
"Robin, you okay?" Raven kicked the boy. "I think we can remember this as the day the Titans kicked the ass of two slimy teens who tried to give them a little bit of hell." Raven moved in on him, but he stood up and rolled out from under her. Cursing, Raven tried to follow, but the girl led him up onto a roof and away. "See you later, losers!"  
  
"After them!" And so the chase continued.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Sorry about how short this chapter is. Please reveiw and I'll try to get another chapter up sometime soon. 


	7. Waiting From A Distance

Raventhedarkgoddess: When trapped in a hotel room in Canada, they cannot expect me to be social, can they? Good thing I brought this notebook...I think I'll work on an update.  
  
Chapter Seven: Waiting At a Distance  
  
Raven was bent over on the roof, one hand resting on her knee as they scanned the city one final time for Slade or either of the black cloaked figures. Robin was standing with both hands curled into fists and his teeth clenched as sweat poured down his face, anger written in every movement he made. "Robin, calm! We should all go home and try to track this from there." At the sound of her voice, Robin unclenched his fists, losing all will to fight as he slumped down next to Raven.  
  
She put her hand gently on his shoulder as his heavy breathing and angry deminer subsided. He turned to face her. What is it about her that makes me listen so well, anyway? "You're right. You are absolutly right...Again." He stood up and turned to face everyone else. "Back to the Tower, team." He couldn't throw the urge to kick something, so he threw a hard kick at a nearby light set in the roof, shattering it. Starfire dodged a single flying shard and stood apart from the group. Why can he not control his anger when around Raven as he did around me? The thought slipped sullenly into her head, and then she noticed that Beast Boy had one hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him, trying to ignore the bitterness within her head.  
  
Raven lead the group down the fire escape so that they didn't have to go through the main building and risk arousing someone. Robin climbed down after her and the two of them settled themselves onto his motorcycle, her telling him to wait for the others although she could tell he wanted to fly ahead. Everyone else shrugged and followed. Lecita let out a groan as her skirt caught in the fire escape. Trying to rip it away did nothing for her, and she held out one hand to her sister as she passed, trying to get Anna to take it. Anna completly snubbed Lecita, walking by as if she didn't see her at all. Hey, I'm here you know, she thought angerly. "Need a hand?" Cyborg smiled warmly.  
  
Lecita took Cyborg's hand and used it to steady herself as she pulled her skirt free. Due to her high heels, she staggered directly into Cyborg's chest and he threw his arms around her in a supporting way until she could stand up straight. Lecita stood there a few extra seconds, taking in what she assumed to be the closet to a hug she would ever get from Cyborg. Blushing, she stepped back hurridly, almost falling again. "Sorry!"   
  
"It's okay...Really," Cyborg responded quickly. It's more than okay, taunted a little voice that, as usual, nagged him from the back of his mind. Lecita is just a friend, he told it. A very good one? It nagged again. Go to hell, he thought, ending the argument in his head and then shaking his head to clear it.  
  
"This car would go a lot faster if it had a driver," Anna cat-called from the backseat. The others were looking at Lecita and then back at him, and Beast Boy had a suggestive smirk on his face that made Cyborg want to punch him. Instead, the two got in the car without looking at each other and Cyborg sped off after Robin. Did she have to make such a desprite move in front of everyone? She could have told me first, Anna thought in a hard, unforgiving way about her older sister. Lecita watched Raven's foot curb out to meet Robin's shin and sighed. Why don't relationships ever stay in one peice? Or is that about how fast he's going? Who knows? I just want to have a love life, she thought, somewhat filled with guilt at the thought.  
  
Parking about five minutes before Cyborg would, Robin hopped off his bike and stood in the rain with his head to the sky, enjoying the cold mist, seemingly unaware that Raven was staring at him. "Robin, tell me, what were you trying to do? Kill us, maybe? Slade is still at large and you want us both dead, is that it?"  
  
"Raven, that's not it at all! I'm not suicidal or crazy or anything like that at all. You've got me figured for the wrong guy. I just have a lot on my mind right now. And I'll die in a fight with Slade before I die to AVOID it!" Robin noticed something rare: Her tone was ice cold again, not the kind, light tone she generaly used with him.   
  
"I have plenty of things on my mind, Robin. But am I not here for you, at least somewhat, everyday? Relationships are hard, you know that as well as I do. I'm not Starfire. You can't push me back until you need me. I don't want us to hurt each other because I love you and, at least I think, you love me. But...If you need me to back off for a while...Condsider this relationship on hold." She pecked Robin on the cheek and ran inside, leaving Robin standing alone in the rain, face still turned upward to the heavy drops that threw his black hair over his face, ready to face whatever came next. It couldn't be worse, he thought unhappily.  
  
"Friend Robin!" Dear God, he thought to himself, not her. Can't she see I want to be left alone? Apparently not, he thought as Starfire ran towards him. He wiped his hair away from his eyes, gratful for the mask he wore. I wish I had Raven's ability to hide what I'm feeling, he thought, then shook his head. You're half crazy, he told himself, just bringing up her name. It's over. Over. So quit thinking about Ra...Her. His eyes, agenst his knowlage or will, began to burn with unshed tears.   
  
"...Raven done something? I understand she can be most upsetting and difficult sometimes." Starfire concluded whatever she had been saying in a light, sugary voice that almost made Robin want to retch. Beast Boy, from a distance so that he could not hear what was being said, watched Starfire talking to Robin in an almost warm way desipite his limited answers and cold way of standing. She just wants him to feel better, he told himself. Quit denying the obivious, he snapped at himself in his head.  
  
Robin turned away and headed inside the tower. The others followed until only Starfire and Beast Boy remained outside in the storm, which was rapidly gathering strengh. "I am most confused. I am not yet over Robin and long for at least a converstaion between us two, and yet I love you. Whatever shall I do, Beast Boy? I want to at least be friends with Robin, but then I feel so cruel toward you! I cannot..." Starfire broke off, sobs heaving from her body as she kept her arms around the boy who she knew deep in her heart truly loved her. Beast Boy didn't say anything, stunned into silence by the fact that Starfire really loved him as the rain soaked them both.  
  
Cyborg, for lack of better things to do, sat down next to the sullen Robin, neither of them saying anything as the rain came down the window pane in front of their faces, the lights off. "Women!" Robin finally said in a low, hiss-like voice. "Were we not cool ten minutes ago? And the next minute she goes all seregent on my ass. I mean, she tells me she loves me and then breaks us up, saying I can come back when I have things figured out. Normally she won't even tell me she cares, now look! She always told me she'd stay around and wait forever. Well, if she can have it now what's the point in waiting from a distance? And I don't have her down as Starfire!" He looked up at the watermarked ceiling of their home and yelled, "Raven, I do love you! Forever! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Cyborg silently pulled his friend back onto the couch and they sat together, both miserable for the sake of the women they thought they loved.  
  
The truth was that Raven, sitting with Lecita on the roof, didn't hear Robin hollering in her name. Raven finally snapped her eyes open, knowing that although she still had the feelings dull in the back of her mind she could still control her powers. Supressing the tangled sea of emotions that were now her life, she hardly heard the small voice. "Do you want to ask about it?"  
  
"What is there to talk about, Lecita? I just hope Robin will come back, we'll both try harder this time...It's all anyone can ask. So what happened with you and Cyborg? You seemed a little closer earlier, if you know what I mean," Raven said, her tone almost teasing.  
  
"Not nice, Raven. Not nice at all! It went well for a while. But then you came and now...I dunno. Just don't have the heart to...And if he doesn't...And I doubt I can...What if...And I...If he doesn't like me that way...How can I...I can't...Raven, if he doesn't like me that way I think I'll be crushed. Really crushed. What am I gonna do?" Lecita didn't say anymore, but Raven nodded.  
  
"I really don't know anymore. If I figure this out, I'll let you know. If being the key word." Raven and Lecita both watched the lightning that had begun to fork across the dark sky, seeing it snake down toward the lake before disapering as they mulled their problems over. Starfire came soundlessly up twenty minutes after, looking at the other two girls. Why do I feel so alone recently? Starfire slumped down on the roof, hidden from both of them, and wept for the second time that day in perfect sync with the thunder.   
  
"Hey, Anna, where's Lecita?" Anna, who was sitting on the window seat and thinking about Cyborg and Lecita, jumped at the sound of Cyborg's voice. Anna preformed a shrug, not willing to talk with Cyborg. "If you see her, tell her I'm upstairs." Cyborg headed off, wondering if Lecita was avoiding him. Her sister certinly is...Kind, he thought to himself.  
  
"Robin! Robin, dude!" A few hours had gone by and Robin was still laying on his bed, his face hidden in his pillow and his mask laying at his side. Tying it around his head without looking and checking his reflection in the mirror, Robin went to answer the door to his room before it was kicked down. He flung it open, smacking Beast Boy in the head.  
  
"Dude! Not cool!" Beast Boy rubbed his forehead, where a large mark was already appering. "Listen, Raven came in and now she's looking for Slade's hideout on one of the comptuers. She wants you to come check something out." Before Robin had time to think about how he felt about seeing Raven at the current time, Beast Boy yanked Robin down the stairs.  
  
Robin stared at Raven as she explained the small map that she had pulled up on the computer. "Sounds great," he said, hoping his timing was right to get back into Raven's good books. "But why don't we wait until tommorow? You look like you could use the rest. We all could." What's with the whole sweet routine, anyway? Raven accepted and everyone headed up to bed.  
  
Another bad dream awoke Cyborg, who stood up and headed for the kitchen. Lecita had apparently fallen asleep, because her black braid rested over her arm, which clutched a coffee cup in one hand. Cyborg carried her out to the couch, gently dumping the coffee down the sink and covering her with a blanket. He turned to leave until she let out a moan in her sleep. "Don't leave..." She seemed to be having a terrible dream.  
  
Cyborg reached her side and decided it couldn't hurt to stay there until she calmed down or awoke from her nightmare. He slid her head agenst his chest and sat there, slowly sinking down into the couch. "I just wish I could do this every night with you knowing how I feel," he whispered to her, his human eye closing slowly as he fell asleep.  
  
Raventhedarkgoddess: Well, at least one thing is going right. There we go, my seventh chapter. 


	8. Unafraid

Raventhedarkgoddess: I am bored. Bored is insperation. So here we go.  
  
Chapter Eight: Unafraid  
  
Raven staggered down the steps, still in her black nightgown. She was trying hard to ignore the tear stains on her face from crying all night over her fight with Robin. Her sleep had been troubled and jumpy. Making sure the other Titans weren't awake to see her and question her, she crept into the living room.  
  
Raven stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Lecita and Cyborg. One of Lecita's hands had clutched around one of Cyborg's, and both looked peaceful. Raven, for the sake of Lecita, decided to wake her up before she woke herself up in Cyborg's arms. Raven shook her arm lightly. "Lecita," she called in a whisper.  
  
Lecita's eyes fluttered open. She looked around, wondering why she wasn't laying down on her corner of the couch, and then looked down to see that one of her hands had wrapped itself around something: Cyborg's hand. She looked up into the face of her sleeping crush and quickly slipped backwards, moratly embarressed. Raven soundlessly motioned her into the kitchen.  
  
"So, what happened back there?" Raven asked when they both stood in the kitchen of Titan Tower. Lecita stared at her rather blankly. The enchantress waited patiently, fixing two mugs of tea on the low counter.  
  
Lecita finally found her voice and began to sputter weakly. "Excuse me? Was that implied or something? Raven, nothing happened." Her face blushed at what she now realized to be an implied tone in the other girl's voice. "I kinda fell asleep and Cyborg must have..." She trailed off, unsure of what she wanted to say.  
  
"Well, Lecita, at least you know he cares about you at least somewhat," Raven said, fighting to keep the cold monotone of her voice from becoming bitter. Unlike me and Robin, she thought in her head anyway. Robin's face flashed into her mind and she let out a half-hearted sigh. She thought of him in the rain the previous night and regreted saying anything to upset him.  
  
"Yes, now I have to tell him..." How, she thought, do I think I'm gonna do that? "Er...Thanks for everything, Raven, you saved us both a lot of embarressment." Lecita, feeling nervous and yet feeling better than she had in weeks,grabbed her mug of tea and took the steps two at a time to dress for a new day. Raven sighed and took her own mug slowly up the steps, knowing that she needed to dress and meditate for the day ahead, which would prove difficult.  
  
Cyborg blinked twice, cautiouly sitting up and finding that his arms were positioned as if he'd been holding someone all night. Then he remembered that Lecita had been there when he went to sleep because he had tried to comfort her. Shit, he thought to himself. What if she thinks I'm a freak or something now? Wouldn't be the first time, he added as a bitter afterthought. Deciding not to think about it, he crept past the sleeping Anna and out of the living room to make breakfast for the team, absentmindly making pancakes and bacon.  
  
Breakfast that day was chaos. "Dude, where's my tofu? Cy, what are you thinking about to forget my tofu?" Beast Boy stared at him demandingly. Starfire put one hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, trying to tell him without talking to calm down.  
  
"Calm down," Robin said vaugly, his head down, pouring over the notes Raven had given him on Slade. "Raven, this is fantastic. How did you figure this all out?"  
  
Raven gulped deep in her throat. She had no real intention of talking to Robin and already he was trying to get back in her good book. Feeling close to having a slight breakdown, she spoke carfully. "Nowhere, really. It's just mapped out on the leads you told me about." There, maybe I can do this, she thought to herself.  
  
"I'm sorry about the tofu, man," Cyborg said, not really paying attention to anything. He was staring at Lecita, who was talking to Anna quietly. Lecita caught Raven's eye with worry, and Raven returned it soundlessly. Cyborg saw the whole team falling apart quietly. Raven and Robin have got to get back together, he thought to himself. And I need to quit relationship obbsessing, he told himself.  
  
"Well, I think we're going to wait until tonight to get started. If you need me, I'll be in my room," Robin said, and sulked off. As soon as the door to his room shut, he dropped his calm look and fell upon the bed, tired from lack of sleep. Talking to Raven is so hard, he thought. Everything she said about me... She had it all right. She sees what I don't want to. He groaned. Don't think about her, he told himself sternly, then saw her face clearly as ever in his mind.  
  
Raven sighed at about the same time Robin had groaned. This is pointless, she thought. We've got to work this out. But.....I can't. Emotions flooded her where she stood. She was confused, upset, and feeling faint, but she would not be able to let him know that.  
  
Fearless, she thought. That's what people think of a hero as. Fearless. Unafraid. Well, I don't think they realize that we all get scared sometimes. She reclined her head back agenst her seat at the breakfast table and ate her breakfast pickily, leaving an almost full plate when they she finally left the table. 


	9. Sometimes

Raventhedarkgoddess: Time to try another chapter of this. I'm sorry any of my updates are slow. Ever since I got kicked off, I've been in a mood that doesn't include writing...  
  
**_Chapter Nine: Sometimes  
_**  
Raven sighed, laying across her bed with a book open next to her, head bent down as if reading. The words blurred before her eyes with supressed tears, and she was at once thankful she was alone so that the tears did not show in her eyes and reveal her feelings. One hand reached over and slid itself around her cup of tea, but then she remembered it had been empty for several hours. She fought with her thoughts for a moment and once again decided not to get up. Finding that her legs would not allow her to get up anyway, Raven stared harder at the ever-blurring words until a single tear dropped onto the page and the light above her blew up in a blast of black energy.  
  
The shattered glass landed all around the dark goddess, who groaned slightly as a single shard forced itself into her hand. She yanked it out and watched her blood flow, down in a tiny stream over her greyish skin. Not recoiling or even blinking, Raven waited for it to stop. When it finally did, Raven stood up and headed out of the room, not bothering with the lightswitch hung on the wall. Why bother stopping the blood that will flow again? She thought silently. Anything I might have lived for is gone, she added to herself, heading down the steps.  
  
Both feet hit the floor in the main room with quiet thuds. Everyone turned to face Raven, shocked that she had bothered to show herself after the long hours she'd spent away from them. Robin looked up into her eyes, which were red-rimmed from her supressed tears. Immediatly noticing the trail of blood and the way she stood, clutching her cloak around herself like she could protect herself from the others eyes, an unusual position for her, he decided not to say anything at all.  
  
Slowly, carefully, almost as if afraid Raven would bite him, Robin moved carefully up to her side. He took her hand and looked at the stopped blood, studying her eyes for a hint that this was done by herself. Seeing no hint in her eyes, he wiped it away with his gloved hand. "Raven," he said, unable to stop the flow of words, "I....You and me...."  
  
Starfire watched Robin, her eyes reflecting nothing she was feeling. "Robin," she cut in suddenly, an underlying determination in her voice, "Are we not going to search for Slade now that friend Raven has come back?" Her naive nature hide everything else, including the underlying torrent of emotions and thoughts. Let this work, she prayed. Do not let Robin apoligize to Raven, she added, almost bitterly, pulling back against Beast Boy with a fake smile on her face.  
  
Robin dropped Raven's hand with a sad look on his face. "Later, okay?" He whispered. Raven heard something behind his voice and nodded, knowing that he meant that they would pursue this conversation soon enough. Cyborg caught her eyes locking with Lecita, although they gently slipped up to Cyborg's hand. He pulled it out of Lecita's hair with a slight blush on the robotic half of his face. Raven, although she was feeling really down on herself, managed a vauge smile at Cyborg and Lecita. Anna also noticed this, although her face darkened as she moved her eyes back and forth between the two.  
  
Lecita also felt Cyborg's hand there. The atmosphere between them had changed completly. Cyborg felt less tense around her, and Lecita turned to smile at his blush. "Come on, guys," Beast Boy said slowly, as Starfire watched Robin again, "Let's go find Slade." Everyone nodded slightly and prepared to leave. Beast Boy rose into the sky as an eagle, wondering why the freedom of flight had so completly left him as he soared among the other flying group members. Starfire's hair caught his eye and he let out a miserable noise.  
  
Both of Cyborg's front wheels grabbed the road as he spun a tight corner, trying to keep up with the airborn groups. Anna cursed as her head smacked off the window and a bit of her hair landed gently across her face. Lecita didn't even bother to look back at Anna, deep into her conversation with the robotic man next to her. Anna's expression changed from a scowl to sheer venom at Lecita's sudden change in attitude. At least she used to pay attention to me, she thought sadly, with a little bitter edge on it. Quit acting like a little girl, she told herself then, but the bitter thoughts about Lecita and Cyborg still came into her head anyway.  
  
Raven stopped, the map she herself had generated indicating that the stop was just below them. Cyborg slammed on the brakes as the three landed from the sky and Robin's motorcycle stopped itself behind him. The boy wonder stood next to Raven, causing a half-growl, half-sigh to come from Starfire's throat. She has no right to be so close to Robin, thought Starfire furiously. Yes, she does and I know it, she added to herself, then shook her head hard again and followed the others into a group cluster.  
  
"We're just going to have to go in and look around," Robin said to the others. "Stay in groups, keep low, and yell as loud as you can if you find Slade or those goony people in black." Everyone shifted and Robin whistled with both fingers in his mouth. "Hey, hey, get in groups of two first!" Robin shifted to Raven's side, Beast Boy took Starfire's hand instintivly, ignoring her gaze toward Robin, and Lecita and Cyborg bumped into each other. "Anna can come with us," Lecita said. "I'll keep an eye on her. Don't worry too much, Robin." Everyone else started in ahead of the sisters.  
  
Gee, thanks, sis, Anna thought sarcasticly, shuffling along behind the group. Stupid Cyborg, consuming her life....What about me? What about me? The bitter question kept rolling itself around in her head. I'm so sick of Cyborg, I wish something bad would....She caught herself in mid-thought as Lecita pushed her gently through the door. She tripped down the steps straight onto Beast Boy, who groaned but said nothing else. "Need a hand?" Cyborg whispered, pulling her to her feet. Anna smacked his hand back. "I don't need your help," she muttered venomously.  
  
A sudden shreik cut out all else. Everyone ran toward the sound, straight into danger. Raven wished she hadn't shreiked as she stared straight into Slade's eyes. 


	10. The Truth Can Hurt

Raventhedarkgoddess: Before I go any further in this, I want to dedicate this and it's prequal, Mistake, to Krazy4Robin, my coolest, kindest, and perhaps the most annoying, reveiwer. Keep it up.

_**Chapter Ten: The Truth Can Hurt**_

The shriek was immidatly silenced by Raven, one hand over her mouth, the part of her mind that screamed for control taking over and silencing her completly. Robin looked over at her with concern he needn't have wasted: He mearly ignored his look of sympathy. "I'm fine," she hissed, her voice low, but not low enough that Slade, circling them like a hawk circles it's prey, couldn't hear them.

"Fine?" He quipped, mouth twitching slightly. "My dear, you and Robin are far from fine. You made the mistake of coming here, all by yourself. You don't think you can escape, do you? That you can beat me on your own? You two all by yourselves, filled with delusions of love and hope and forever, thinking you're immortal, means nothing. You can be eliminated. You can...."

"I want you to be quiet," Raven said in a death-quiet voice, kicking the side of the mask in. Robin watched Raven in a mix of horror and satifaction. The metalic noise echoed around the small room, it's noise reassuring to Raven, who dropped back down into a fighting, ready stance, hood up, next to Robin.

"Fine. Fighting is how the Teen Titans want to go down, that's the way they go down." He moved forward, smirking, pole extended, ready to fight. Robin and Raven looked at each other, nodded, and prepared for the hardest fight of their lives.

"Come on, Starfire." Beast Boy yanked on Starfire's hand, dragging her forward. Starfire realized that she couldn't keep moving along with Beast Boy until she asked him an important question.

"Beast Boy, are we truely lovers, or are you just mourning Terra's loss with my presence?" Please let him say he does not like me, she thought. I do not really love him as much as I thought I did the other night in the rain.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to answer her, cursing her poor timing, when one of the black-robed figures stepped out of the shadows. "Beast Boy." It was apparently the female, her voice cold and distant. She raised her knife, but then stopped and lowered her hood only inches from Beast Boy's face. "Beast Boy, it's me." The curtain of blonde hair fell into her face, but there was no mistaking the pale, ashen face: Terra was staring at him with here blue eyes wide, as if she expected him to have forgotten her.

"Terra?" He squinted, attempting to figure out if she was one of Slade's tricks. "You're dead." The words hit him, hard, in the chest, as he began wondering if there was even the slimmest chance that she had not been dead, that Slade had thrown her aside only to make himself look good. "Terra, is it you?"

"Of course it's me, Beast. Look, I was told to eliminate you. I can't do that. Come with me. We'll get out of here. We can come back for the others, come back later. They'll be fine," she added to his doubtful look. "If we take time to try to get to everyone now, no one will live." She started forward, backing away, and then noticed that neither of them was coming. "Beast Boy..... Something wrong?" She studied him, but could not come up with a reason for him to be glaring at her.

"Terra.... Look what you did last time. I can't.... Terra.... It's not all about love. I have to trust you. And right now, I can't trust you. Look.... You almost took a knife to Lecita, to Raven, and you would have taken one to me. Did you even love me the first time? Or was it just a sick game? I've been going over this since I thought you died. Now, answer me, and look at me when you speak." The angry creature had replaced her warm, joking Beast Boy in an instent.

Terra raised her head, out of it's shame, to stare at Beast Boy. "Beast Boy, of course I loved you. I'm here now, defying Slade, to try to save your skin and not mine. Everything I said, everything I did.... Do you think I didn't regreat it? I almost died last time, doing something that wasn't worth dying for. The only thing worth dying for is you guys, and you know that as well as I do." She set her hand on his green hand, which slowly came out of it's balled state and touched her pale one.

"Come on, Starfire, let's go." Terra set off at a run, Beast Boy keeping up in the form of a horse, Starfire floating behind, full of relif, regreat, and fear. Where do I go now that you are gone? I have lost Robin and Beast Boy, and yet I am all alone. Is no one for me?

She remembered, for some odd reason, standing on the docks with Raven a week after Raven and Robin had gotten together. They had been talking about boys and love. "_The truth is," _Raven had said, _"The truth is nothing but things you don't want to know. I didn't want to belive I was in love with Robin, but look at us now. You may not want to belive that Terra is gone, but you learn to ajust. The truth is hard, I guess. Love is in hand with truth. Don't lie to Beast Boy, no matter what the truth is." _

Now, thanks to Robin and Lecita, I have no friends at all. Is the truth now that I am friendless, Raven? "Star, hurry up," Terra called from the lead. "I need to come back for your friends!" At that statement, a tear fell from her jem-like eyes, because there was no way Terra could have understood what she had just said.

"Who do you think screamed?" Asked a perpelceted Lecita.

"Sounded like Raven," Anna responded in an uninterested voice.

"Raven usually doesn't scream for nothin," Cyborg pointed out.

Lecita didn't bother to respond to that. "ANNA!"

Anna stood, looking confused. The black-cloaked figure behind her continued to edge closer and closer to her head, steely knife raised.

Raventhedarkgoddess: Okay, chapter ten.


	11. I Had No Clue

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Well, I finally got around to updating._

**Chapter Eleven: I Had No Clue**

"RAVEN!" Raven took a hit squarely in her stomach. "Are you alright?" He called. He had to master the impulse to run to her side as Slade turned to him. _Just shut up and fight_, he told himself. _Don't think about Raven, don't think about how she's bleeding, don't think about how much pain she's in........................ _He knew all at once that it was hopeless. _So fight anyway, _he told himself. _She'll still be here when you get back. _

"Not so powerful without our little girlfriend, are we, Robin?" He landed his blow on Robin's arm, the bleeding starting instentily, but the blood didn't stop Robin. _Bleeding is nothing_, he reminded himself. _Everything that matters to you is in that corner. ._

"She's right there. Raven never leaves me!" And he kicked Slade as Raven had done only minutes before, the dent becoming deeper. Slade could feel the mask's metal digging into his face and knew Robin would be tougher than ever as long as his wrench of a girlfriend was at stake. But he raised the rod once more, ready to fight on anyway and claim his apprintice once more. Robin's face was set, his jaw determined, and Robin remained on the offensive until the boy was finally knocked back by a blow on his left shoulder. Slade raised his staff again, ready to claim his apprintice, who lay, sprawled on the floor, his head resting on Raven's leg.

Beast Boy followed Terra slowly, not sure weather or not to be happy for her company. Something in her had changed: She no longer seemed to be the light, joking girl that had left him before in supposed death. She touched his hand lightly. "Hurry up," she whispered, blue eyes staring into his impatently. "I'm not sure where Slade went, and I want to sneak you two out before something else happens."

"Terra, what if you CAN'T get back in for everyone else?" Beast Boy found this fear lurking in the back of his head, unplanned and random. _Dude, what ARE you so worried about?_ He questioned himself. _It'll be FINE_. But even then, he didn't want to take back the question and let it hang among them. Terra did not answer, but continued to lead them down a long, dark hallway, toward what she thought was the safest exit, but her blue eyes proclaimed what was left unsaid: She didn't want to know what would happen, not just to herself but to them.

"What did I do THIS time, oh great sister, that you are holloring my name? Is it illigal just to stand there?" She challenged her sister mockingly.

"Anna, behind you!" Lecita was close to panic, ignoring her sister's mockery and anger. "What is your problem? Run!" _Run, sis!_ She pleaded with her eyes.

Anna glanced around behind her, half expecting this to be some form of sick joke.When she saw the knife and heard her sister's pleas behind her, her legs, instead of functioning, locked. "What do you want?" Instead of the scalthing tone she'd used with her sister, she heard a weak croak. Oh, great, she thought, surprised. _I've never had trouble talking to people before_, she said to herself. _Have you ever dealt with someone six feet tall with a knife in his hand? _She countered herself, and then wondered why she felt so curiously weak.

"I want to do what I was told to do," answered a cold voice from behind the hood that covered the figure's face. "I'm here to kill you, just as the others are being killed as I speak. But I waste both of our time: You are to die, and only to die, and that will be the end of it."

"I don't think so, ya'll." Cyborg aimed his arm and fired off a single shot of blue light from his sonic cannon. It hit the teen square in the chest as he leaned down to Anna, knocking the knife away. His shoulder made a rather sick crunch as it hit the wall.

Instead of letting the pain show, the boy got straight back up. "Cyborg, is it?" He spoke calmly, but the mocking edge was gone. It had been replaced by one Cyborg had heard placed in Slade's tone before: Hatred. Cyborg did not acnowlage this wild guess, and so the boy continued. "I know everything about you, about all of you. It's just a simple matter of destroying the robot part of you and killing these two weak human girls. You and the Teen Titans will bother Slade no more. Terra has probably already anialted everyone else as I say this."

"She's dead," Cyborg said automaticly, as he was used to saying.

"Is she now?" But Cyborg got no chance to reply. Anna and Lecita were standing side by side, and Lecita shuddered as she heard something else: An undeniable female scream that sent an image of Terra into everyone's mind.

"I had no clue......." Lecita said. "She should be dead. She's what's been hunting us. Beast Boy....." She looked at Cyborg, and both knew at once that even if they got out of this alive, Beast Boy would probably be dealing with a very broken heart.

They had no clue that Beast Boy stood with her, ready to fight off the thing that had made her scream: An army of Slade's robots, fully armed, who had been waiting for them.

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Short, but I hope it was okay._


	12. All Downhill From Here

_Raventhedarkgoddess: I wish I could have updated sooner........... Sorry guys, definatly not feeling inspired a lot lately._

**Chapter Twelve: All Downhill From Here**

Raven woke up, head spinning, weakly moving toward Robin, who lay at her feet. There was no sign of Slade in the entire room, yet she could feel her legs, sticky with Robin's blood and her own. _So much blood at Slade's hands............._

"Robin? Robin?" She called him, her voice a sweet, low whisper, brushing her pale hand over his face, moving it through the black tangles of his hair. "Robin, Robin, time to get up......" She looked around franticly, knowing that Slade would not just have let them get away and that he would be back soon, to torment, to kill her and to take Robin away from her. "We can't let him take you," she whispered. "Robin, please wake up!"

Robin let out a miserable groan, terribly beaten and bloodied but alive, and looked over at her. _She's...... okay.......... _"What happened?" He half asked, half whispered, seeming ready to slip away from her again, back into his own world of terrible blackness and dispair. He felt her hands, warmly carrassing his head, and saw the blood she was covered in. "What...... Are you.......... Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me," she told him, her shoulder burning, her stomach cut open, the blood flow barely ceasing to exist there. "Let's worry about you." She whispered something, Robin presuming they were magic words, and her hands glowed a beautiful blue, the color of healing, the color, for him, of her cloaked beauty. "Just hold still."

Her hands ran themselves over his arms, his chest, his face, his legs, and finally both shoulders. "Does anything else bother you?" She was, to Robin, the picture of perfection, the picture of an angel who had forgotten her own pain in the light of his.

"Just my heart, seeing as how you look like someone kicked the shit out of you. Is there anything I can do?" Robin put one hand to hers, holding them, feeling the iciness, the coldness after hours of lying unconcious, the same tempature as death. _Nothing is going to take you away from me, not now, not ever, _he vowed to her in his head.

"No. Now..........Let's get out of here. Please. Let's just get out of here and worry about Slade another time. I know there are things worth fighting for at stake here, and that we have to help Anna and Lecita, but........... I don't want to lose you."

Robin could tell she meant that, that she was almost afraid to admit her selfishness, worried, her violet eyes on the ceiling, on the walls and the floor, as if worried that Slade might attack them at any second. "You're not going to lose me."

"I almost did, Robin, I almost did."

A scream cut the atmosphere of both fear and love around them, like a knife swift through butter, and Raven thought she reconized it. "Can't be her, she's dead." _Terra. _The name cut through her mind despite this spoken statement.

Robin got up off the floor, leaned down and pulled Raven to her feet. "One way to find out." Supporting her warm weight with his own, shoulder to shoulder, the two of them took off down the hall, with her determination radiating from her. _Please, _he prayed to himself, _let this all be better than it sounds._

* * *

Terra backed up, the scream having left her throat, and almost slammed directly into Beast Boy. Beast Boy put an arm out to steady her and the two of them stared at the figure blocking the exit. The Slade bots were held back by none other than Slade himself. 

"Apprintice, I'm shocked at you." His footfall shocked her, startled her. "For someone who doesn't have any friends, you two happen to be standing very close." His hand came out and pulled her arm, pulling her toward him. "Maybe you'd like to stand with me instead?"

"Terra!" Beast Boy held her hand, holding her back, helping her to hold her ground. "You can fight him, Terra! Don't go back to his side. Please, please don't leave me......" Terra's hand attached itself to his wrist and he dug his heels in, as did she, the black robe around her billowing up in the resistence, in both Terra and Beast Boy's faces, clouding their visions of everything but each other. "I've got you," he told her. "Just keep resisting.........." He gritted his teeth. "Starfire, help!"

_I'm fighting, Beast Boy. I'm fighting for you. _"Beast Boy..........." She whispered. _Even after all I put him through, he still loves me..........._

Starfire, who had moved forward to aid Beast Boy in rescuing Terra, pulled back and away from the two of them. _Everyone has left me once more. I have lost friend Robin to friend Raven and friend Beast Boy to friend Terra and even friend Cyborg to friend Lecita. I am so alone............... _She hugged her arms miserably to her chest and stood there, trying to avoid the stares, the yelling, the loving of all her friends. _When did I become so alone, surrounded by these people?_

Slade gripped Terra's other wrist tightly. "Terra, why do you struggle? You came to me of choice: You wanted to see these people meet their end, you and Derek." His look was one of insanity. "Terra, you came to me, and with me you will stay."

Terra kicked out. Slade had not been ready, had not been prepared for the force of the blow. The result was a low blow to his own chest, a square, painful hit in the chest. He dropped Terra's wrist, and Beast Boy dropped her other wrist. Terra stood in a battle stance, feet planted into the earth she would soon be slinging, ready to try again to defeat this dark master, this dark overlord. _I can do this, I CAN do this................. I won't leave them again._

Beast Boy stood next to Terra, still not sure how he felt about having her back. Slade was standing up; The blow had not disabled him for long. "Starfire," Beast Boy called, pulling himself into a fighting stance next to Terra, "We could use some help over here!"

Starfire was standing with her head down, her hair falling all around her, the amber glowing in the dim light, her emrald eyes glowing with unshed tears. "And I need more help than you could ever understand," she whispered. She ran over, trying to act as if she was not breaking inside, and stood up. Fighting would be no problem now: She had plenty of anger hidden among the sorrow with which to fight, but at the same time, she was not sure she had anything to fight for.

Slade came forward, and, as the metal connected with her shoulder, she hardly wanted to fight back. "Star?" Terra was calling. "Are you okay?"

Just the sound of Terra's voice was enough to break her inside. Heaving a loud, angry yell, she forced Slade off of her body in an outburst of fury. "Nice one, Star!" Beast Boy called to her. Starfire didn't even seem to notice. She turned away from Slade, who was begining to get up again. _What has happened to me? When did I become so alone, so angry and lost and confused and alone?_

Just then, Slade snapped his fingers as he got back up, and the army moved forward, surrouding the three teens. It was all downhill from there on.

* * *

The boy moved forward, never speaking. "We have nothing else to say to each other. The girl is tradior: If Slade has not finished all of your friends by the time we are done here, I shall take care of them. The Teen Titans will be finished." This mad delsion having been declared, he moved slowly in on the three of them. 

Anna moved behind Cyborg, who nodded at Lecita and she lept in, knife to knife, for several minutes fighting the boy. "I know it was you who attacked me."

"You're a friend of the Titans. We couldn't have you warning them, now could we? If you'd been inside it like you were supposed to be, we wouldn't be having this fight right now, and you wouldn't be about to lose."

Lecita's left hand gripped the knife, the other one flipping her black braid away from her face. "I'm not about to lose." Famous last words are often spoken with such confidence, and this was no exception: No sooner had she uttered the words in her harsh yell than she felt the impact on the side of her neck.

Cyborg struck the boy in the back of the head, knocking him to the floor, where he lay still as death. Anna looked at him in fury. "Why didn't you do something sooner?!" Cyborg did not respond, only went to her side and attempted to check for a heartbeat. There was one.

"We gotta find the others," he said. The mysterious boy did not move an inch, and Cyborg made the most foolish mistake he could have made. "Anna, stay here with Lecita and the boy. I'm gonna go find help."

No sooner had he run off than the boy began to stir. "Now, girls, it's time for me to finish you." Anna stared as he got up, quickly and limberly. "Master wants no memory of the Titans. You two are the first part of that memory to go."

_Raventhedarkgoddess: I hope this is an okay update, seeing as it's been a while since I bothered to update. _


	13. Arms Wide Open

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Why? Why go to bake cookies and drag ME with you to watch the little kids......... How I hate little kids........ (picks up notebook) I guess I'll write another chapter, seeing as how there's NOTHING else to do...... May not be all that great, written while under the influence of boredom and too much spare time._

**Chapter Thirteen: Arms Wide Open**

Raven and Robin moved quickly through the narrow hall together, more one person than two, holding hands, exchanging whispers. Raven tried to keep Robin from running, but he dragged her along as if she were dead weight. "Robin, you're hurting me," she finally whispered to him.

His grip did not loosen or relax, and her wrist was begining to throb painfully. He sped up as another loud crash and a scream came over them both. "We just need to hurry, Rae. I don't mean to hurt you, but we do." She ground her teeth against his words: Protest would do nothing for her and she knew that.

Raven nodded, another scream coming to them. Raven felt herself being dragged faster than she could walk in her present condition: Her only comfort was in the fact that he would rather pull her along and have her with him than leave her alone to catch up later. Raven tried to speed up a bit, although the waves of pain in her legs were making it so hard to move......

"Does that scream sound familier to you at all?" She asked Robin earnestly, the echo still in her ears.

"I can't really say for sure," Robin replied softly, and Raven knew he didn't hear the resemblence in the voice. He didn't realize it to be the voice of a girl he had laughed with, joked with, accepted into the team, the girl he thought he had killed..........

_It's Terra, _she thought to herself.

Just then, the hallway ahead of them seemed to open up, get wider. A large open room, filled with boxes and the smell of decay, was in front of the pair. A battle was unfolding in front of them, and a very bloody one at that. Three of their teammates were present: Beast Boy was fighting to what looked to be the death, covered in brusies, Starfire, who was standing in the corner, looking defeated, and......

There in front was Terra, bloody and matted. Across from her was Slade, and he appered to be winning.

Terra flew into the wall, screaming again, screaming bloody murder as she took another blow across her shoulder and was pelted by her own planned attack, a boulder smacking her face. "Get away from me," she shouted as the rocks slammed her again.

Slade did not listen, but instead came closer, grinning like a mad man, until one of his feet was inches from her face. "So, apprintice, one last shot." He lifted the staff above his head and twirled it, listening to it's metalic clank against the dent in the side of his own mask, the only damage he had substained. "Not a scratch on me. You are nothing without me, apprintice."

"I'd rather be dead than be with you again. I made a mistake: At least I have friends." Terra tried to pull herself back, but she was closer pressed to the wall than ever. A single drop of blood fell onto one of her hands and she stared up into the mask, the mask she had once thought so wonderful. _I need to get away from him......._

_Scared, aren't we? _His face mocked, and he brought himself closer. "You don't have friends. You have people who are too concerned for their own lives. Notice how they took you back only in a time of desperate need. If you hadn't tried to lead them out, none of this would have happened."

"Shut up!" She struggled to her feet, blonde hair flinging around her as she struggled to balence on her own two feet. The world seemed to be spinning, spinning..... "No," she whispered in feeble protest, protest to both her lack of standing and to Slade's request.

"Apprintice.......... If you refuse me....... Then you refuse your life as well." His face was insane, the jagged edge of his mask gleaming.......

Beast Boy threw another Slade-bot into the corner, totally unfocused on the task. Instead his eyes were only on Terra, no matter what form he was in, watching her hit the wall, seeing Slade move in on her, being held back only by the robots around him........ He felt his teeth tearing through the wires of the last one. _Terra. _A pulsing thought, over and over in his head. _I've got to get to Terra, I've got to help Terra........ _"Star, a little help here!"

Starfire was pelting no less than fifteen Slade-bots with starbolts, but they seemed to do nothing. She seemed to lack fury or pep or any emotion at all, let alone ones strong enough to activate the extent of her powers. As Beast Boy moved in on them too, she watched him with a helpless sense. _He is only defending me for the sake of Terra. _He tossed his green head, fury and anger upon his face.........

"Goodbye, Terra." Slade swung a peice of metal, hard, at her head, giving a victory shout as it flew toward her........

"TERRA!" Beast Boy saw the jagged edge falling toward her, wanted to move, but the onslaught of robots held him back..... _I'll never reach her in time, _he realized desperatly. "Terra, move!" He ripped his way through another one, saw Starfire looking on in silent, unmoving horror.....

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The peice of metal stopped falling, seemed to struggle, seemed to fight Slade's hands....... "Leave her alone!" Raven hissed, winning the control and throwing it off to one side, staring Slade down. Slade pretended to take no notice. _This is a time for action and talking them down, _he reminded himself sinisterly.

"Little bird girl isn't dead yet, I s...." A loud cracking filled the room as Robin slammed his foot into the side of Slade's skull yet again. Slade's taunt was cut off in mid-speach: Robin's foot landed on his chest, meant to hold him there.

"Stay down!" His chest heaved as he yelled, as he hollored at Slade with anger in every note of his voice, desire to kill in his fingers. _No, don't kill him, you remember what you thought you did last time........._

"Little boy bird isn't dead either. How wonderful for me," Slade proclaimed, oddly calm for someone in his posistion, laying on the ground under Robin's boot. Beast Boy managed to finish off the last robot for real this time and ran over to Raven, who was bent over Terra.

"How are you, Terra?" Beast Boy asked, trying to remain calm, trying not to let Terra see how worried he was about her. _You've gotta be okay, I'll never forgive myself if you..... You've got to live, you've got to....._

"I said go help Robin!" Raven's voice broke his thoughts apart. Robin landed, hard, on the ground, as Slade flipped out from under him. "Not good enough," he hissed at Robin softly. "I really expected more of a fight from you."

"If a fight is what you want, a fight is what you're going to get," Robin threatened, and lept in. Beast Boy caught Raven's glare, caught him just staring, and moved in quickly. Starfire still stood in a corner, watching the fighting, watching the struggle, but doing nothing to inverene, to help.....

_I am alone here. _The thought kept ringing through her mind, causing her to be deviod of anger or hurt, of judgement or, even of sadness. _All I am is empty. All I am is alone. _A single tear slid down her face. "Help them, Starfire!" Raven was yelling, her face slightly twisted with the pain and the emotional struggle going on within her mind.

_I cannot help the people who betray me for themselves, _Starfire thought miserably. _I want to help them so much, though........ They are still my friends....... _She thought of all the laughs, of the warm nights in Robin and Beast Boy's arms.......

Somehow she managed to distance herself over the battle. Anger was starting to come, anger at the world for taking them away, even though she wasnt' really sure who or what had taken the boys away from her. A starbolt pelted Slade, who fell, obviously shocked at Starfire's preformance.

_Where do I belong? _The question sent Starfire to Raven's side again. Raven was leaning against Terra, who held the badly-bruised girl to her side quietly. Beast Boy stepped back: Robin had Slade now, and what would happen was going to happen without him interfearing. He slid his arm around Terra, who grinned. Starfire reached over to support Raven, feeling sick at the sight of Terra and Beast Boy. _Why must it be this way?_

_It's over. He's almost killed my friends too many times. I've got to get rid of him, _Robin vowed to himself, taking the pole firmly between his own two hands. "This is going to be goodbye, Slade!"

"So sad.... I always liked your company, Robin. You and I could still take over, you know. Go on, kill me. Plauge your soul with real blood....... Plauge your soul with my blood again!" Slade hollored.

Robin could feel himself hesitating. He tried to look at Raven, at his team, to remind himself what he was fighting for, but the emotional torrent from last time filled him. _Do I really want to go through with all the death again? _

A blue blast that missed him, hit the wall oppisite him and bounced back, skillfully dodged by Slade, who regained his footing yet again. "Come on, ya'll! I need some help!"

"Finish me and go to your friend's aid," Slade whispered softly. "I know you want to end it. You want to end the problems and pain I've caused you. End it for me. Prove to me who you really are. Be a man!"

Again, Robin felt himself hesistate. _Do I really want to be a killer? He'll put me in the same posistion as him if I murder........_

"Lectia is down! I need help now!" Cyborg waved his arms widely. _Don't they realize how much a person bleeds when she's been cut like that? _He saw Raven and Starfire limping forward. Cyborg wasn't even thinking, just knew that Raven was a healer and she was the only one who could help him. Ignoring her feeble cry, he grabbed her arm.

Her cry made Robin spin around, forgetting to hold Slade to the ground for an instent. That instent was all the encouragement Slade needed. "Goodbye, you spineless fool," he heard Slade hiss behind him. A crash and a loud banging later, Slade was gone. Robin was torn: Helping Raven or running after Slade, Raven or Slade's blood.........

"We'll get him later! Lead the way, Cyborg!" Robin ran, pleased with the distraction in spite of the fact that it was threatening a life. _I cant' let myself sink back to that level. I can't become the killer, not now or ever again........_

* * *

"This is the end for both of you." Slowly, the boy looked into Anna's eyes. "Do you know what it means when an assassin lowers his hood, Anna?" As he spoke, both hands reached for his hood, played with the edging for a few moments, and then brought it down. He had greasy-looking brown hair and unforgiving gray eyes, a gray that should have been tainted with blood and memory of those he had killed but instead was calm and cold. 

Anna could not help being fasinated by his face. _How could someone so normal looking be so harmful.......... _In spite of herself, she shook her head and stared at him, wanting an explaination even though she knew it would be grim. There was something about his eyes that held her to the spot.......

"It is known as an assassin's farwell. Only those he is about to murder will ever know his face. There is no survival. This is goodbye, for both you and your sister. I failed at first, failed with the fake suicide and the fire, when you both lived......... But it won't happen again. I will repay my debts to master Slade in full before the night is done." He turned to her, his knife clean, and raised it toward his face, letting it reflect his own eyes into his vision. "So shameful that I will soon have to clean this of your blood......."

"I won't let you!" Anna grabbed the knife from her fallen sister, ready to defend herself in any way possible. Suddenly, a scream peirced the building, and red fell to the concrete, a black braid upon the concrete floor, a sick noise........

"Now for you, Lectia."

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Hope this chapter was good, I'm feeling kind of tired right now, but I tried......... Anyway, reveiws welcome. _


	14. Not Always Easy

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Time to actually break my writer's block for good..... Why can't I write anything decent anymore..... Oh well, I shall try......_

**Chapter Fourteen: Not Always Easy**

"It always was hard to prove that I belonged anywhere: But I will prove to Slade I am the only apprintice he needs. We will be closer than father and son, the bond between man and his master..... And you, my dear girl, are the key." He looked her over, attempting to see if he need stab her again or if the force of his first blow was enough, if her spilled blood had taken her out. The red mixed with the black of her hair...

Her chest was hardley rising and falling. "The pleasure of an assassin, my dear, is in watching his chosen victim fade...... I will watch you now, so far gone....." He leaned his head into his hand and fingered the knife that he had removed from Anna, watching both sisters bleed. One hand on her chest, he pryed the knife from Lecita's throat and watched as the crimsion flow was renewed. "This is my goodbye......"

Anna sputtered, trying her hardest not to slip into the blackness gathering at the edges of her vision. "You.... vile.... bastard...." Her head spun and the words came out quietly, barely above a whisper and hardly to his level of hearing.

"I've been called much worse, my dear. Just listen to the lullaby...... You know you're tired and your head is spinning.... Go forth, and may you be granted an eternal nap." His face split into a self-centered, terrible grin.... He was watching her fade quietly. "Or perhaps you would like me to just finish you now?"

"My friends..... Will come..... For.... us...." _The Titans really are my friends..... How could I have been that way to them? And Cyborg.... He just wanted to be close to my sister, and I pushed him away from us.... _Her brown eyes were narrowed, hardly slits, and she could hardly keep herself awake. "I...will.... not... fall to... you...."

Her chest heaved up and down another time and the world seemed to spin at a faster rate than she could see, everyone and everything nothing more than a colored mass of shapes, hardly worthy of her attention. "I.... love you.... sis." Her chest heaved once more, raising slowly and then collapsing as all air removed itself from her body, a single tear making it's way down her cheek.

"She's weaker than you, Lecita.... But you're not going to hold up, I can see how weak you're getting......" He traced the blade lovingly, knowing that at any given point he had the power to destroy her, and yet that there was simple joy in holding control of her life over her head. _If only she were awake to plot, to attempt escape.... That's what I really want, to watch her fight to get away from me......_

Her breathing became more ragged, and she actually opened her eyes. "Cyborg.... Where did you go...." She muttered delusionaly, looking around but unable to raise her head. "Why would you leave me........"

"You will never see Cyborg again.... This is your end, my dear...... You have served myself and Master Slade quite well. I thank you for him." Derek bowed his head slightly, an insane grin on his face. _I'm actually about to make it into the ranks of the man I admire.... I'm one kill away from being a part of the team that will rule the world.... The Titans will fall, and no surviors will be left. I'm actually about to be someone that my no-good father could never have seen me being...._

"I can't..... beliveive he would leave without.... Saying goodbye to me, without even bothering to tell me that.... he cared about me...." Lecita hissed weakly. "They'll be here for you, and for Slade..... I won't be fo...fo....forgotten....." Her lips trembled slightly over the word. _They would never just leave us.... We're their friends.... _She forced herself to breath, every effort causing stabbing pains, forcing her to struggle to keep her head clear.

"Your sister said the same thing as she perished, I'm assuming that feeble minds think alike, as do great ones." He laughed cruely at his own sick joke, laughing at the pain and discomfort he was causing, and made a while gesture to Anna, the whites of her eyes slightly visable through the slits she had glared at him through in her last moments, her entire form awashed in blood.

"Anna.... No....... God, no..... And my friends.... I'm all....a...alone....." Lecita's head began to spin more than ever: This boy had killed her sister, had reason to belive her friends were dead, and was now killing her, torturing her as she died, watching her bleed and smiling because he was the one to have done it.

"She wanted you to know...." A thin smile played over his cruel lips, a lifeless shell of a face with sick pleasure, "That she cared. She said that she loved you as her parting words." To this he recived no response, only an anguished sob, the tears draining her even more of her precious strenght.

"Lecita!" Robin cried out. "Don't move, don't scream, don't cry out....." Robin found himself slipping into what Raven affectionatly called 'full-on leader' mode: Yelling and trying his hardest to forget about his own problems, trying his hardest to prevent death......

"So the Titans live. This is quite a turn of events for me. I enjoy this kind of work." He turned his eyes to Terra. "A tradior in our mist, I see, Terra." He chucked her under the chin with his hand, Terra standing quite still in spite of him. "So nice to see you....."

"Shut up!" She stepped over the body of Anna, permitting the horribly weakened Raven to slip behind her toward Lecita's fallen form. "Just shut up and leave my friends alone! Your master has left you and fled. You have no one. Accept it!" Her blonde hair flew around her face as she flung her head.

"This is the line of an assassin. We'll join up later, after I have done the work of eliminating you and your.... friends, if you wish to call them such. However, real friends would not have left you alone for so long..... Slade knows I can handle you, or he would not have left me alone... For I am never alone with Slade...."

"Enough talk!" Cyborg punched the boy in the side of his head, willing to stand by no more. His eyes managed to pull themselves away from Lecita, who was gasping and choking, no longer able to call out to her friends as she choked on her own tears and lack of strengh.

"Can you hear me, Lecita?" Raven was at the girl's side, summoning what little healing strenght she had left to close the hole on the side of Lecita's neck. "Cyborg dragged me the whole way here..... Did I do anything for the damange?"

"Much.... better..." Lecita choked out through the sobs, the only thing still haunting her her dead sister. Raven took her in her arms and let her sob, knowing neither of them were in any condition to be of use to the rest of the team.

A few kicks and several punches later, the boy was surrounded by the team. "Do you really have the heart to take me out, Robin?"

_I cannot be the killer again........ _"Get him!" He yelled heartlessly to the rest of the team, feeling himself breaking inside to know that he was about to go back into the same position he had been in a few months ago, the heartless killer.......

Cyborg was the one to drench his hands as Beast Boy missed, tearing at the boy, his mechanial weapons all but forgotten in the brawl of pure fists. "Die, damn you!" Everyone else backed up, Starfire into Robin, who pulled away from her and held his hand on her shoulder in a friendly way, and Terra buried her head into Beast Boy. "Don't ever touch anyone close to me, damn you!"

"Slade..... Will avenge me....." The boy fell to the ground and Starfire, Robin, and Beast Boy pried Cyborg's body off of the lifeless corpse, trying to calm him to the best of their ablitities. Raven looked up slowly, her movements weak and mechanical.

"Let's just leave him here," Terra said softly. "The cops will probably be here soon anyway....." She was white and shaking, and from what Robin could tell, she had moved back to the team. Everyone nodded slowly nodded and Robin quietly shouldered Anna's body.

"What are we going to do about her?" Raven whispered to him, leaning into him so that she could walk.

"I don't know, Raven. I really don't know."

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Merry Christmas, you guys. Hope this update was okay._


	15. Submerged

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Finally managed to get this uploaded in one piece after a week's ban and a couple of outbound file deletes.... (glares at brothers) Anyway, it's short, but I hope you guys enjoy it, wish I weren't having writer's block......_

**Chapter Fifteen: Submerged**

The silence could not have been thicker over the group of teenagers as they made their way into the T-shaped house, Terra now supporting the weakened Raven, Robin carrying Anna's body, his eyes cast down to the floor, the night spinning through his head, spinning in circles before his eyes so that he was hearing the crys, feeling the battle instead of watching the ground.....

"Careful, Robin," Lecita croaked out, speaking her first words since they left the battle scene. "You're going to hit the doorframe." Her concern made everyone wince slightly inwardly: Her brown eyes were now devoid of anything but sadness and untold greif and pain. _I only have the Titans now.... I don't have a real family now.... I need to get out of this life, away from my sister and all this pain..... _She felt her black braid, heavy with blood and the weight on her injured neck, smacking her back. _I've just got to clear my head......._

Robin pulled his eyes quickly to the door, away from Lecita's face, and managed to lay the body on their faded couch without further problems. Raven looked around: All of her friends, despite needing a good bath and a little time, were fine, but from what she could tell everyone was an emotional wreck. _If only I could maybe let them know I feel the same as they do.... Damn it....._

"Come on, Rae, everyone else is going to make plans for the funeral and you need to come upstairs so I can help you with those cuts," Terra said gently. The blonde's soaked hair fell around her face, her eyes almost completly covered by her hair, the blue glittering clearly from what Raven could see where she stood. She held out her hand, but Raven couldn't help feeling like something was wrong, like somehow she and Terra shouldn't be standing here talking after everything that had happened.....

_It's just the unease of the night, just the unease of the the night, _Raven tried to tell herself, failing to reassure herself. "Alright," she heard herself mutter, her voice still devoid, not really revealing anything about her, least of all the shock she was feeling. _It's going to be okay, Terra is your friend......_

A knife, glinting, flashed itself through Raven's mind. _Isn't she? _Their footsteps moved them quietly away from the low voices, the sobbing, anyone that might hear them and know if something happened, the halls that had looked so familer now haunted by shadows and death. She moved quickly to be behind Terra, her eyes casting around the narrow passageway all the same. _Isn't she? _The question refused to leave her head.

"Why don't we go into your room and I can help you clean up?" Terra suggested quietly, trying to be friendly but failing, hearing the dead tone to her voice, the horror at what she herself had done two months ago, still unable to believe that she was really here after all this time.

"No, we'll go into your room instead," Raven murmered, still limping but refusing to hold onto Terra any longer. _I can't let her get inside my head, I can't be messed up and I can't let her know how worried I am about having her in the house... We don't need anymore stress right now........ I just don't want her in my room because my room is private, that's all, that's all it is......._

"My.... My room?" Terra asked quietly, shock setting in. "I still have a room here, even after everything I did.....?"

Raven didn't answer her, but instead walked toward one side of the hall, opening the door that Terra reconized immidatly, revieling that almost everything was in it's place, but that dust had been kicked up slightly. "Beast Boy insisted that your room be kept after you 'died'. He went a little crazy, actually," Raven said in a dead whisper, trying to sooth her nerves with the sound of her own voice. _I'm just trying to keep the nice, honest truth going, that's all......_

Terra looked around in amazement at the room, although it was exactly as she had left it those few months before. _Beast Boy really does care about me..... _The thought provoked a slight smile onto her lips, but it was quickly removed by the sight of Raven's blood-covered body as she changed into a black sleeveless dress so that the cuts were more readily accessable. "Rae, you look terrible......"

"I'll be fine, I just need you to hurry and patch these cuts. We're needed downstairs, to...." Raven left the statement unfinished, because both of them knew what they were needed for: Comforting Lecita and making sure that no one went to peices while making arrangements for the funeral.

The silence hung tensely between them, Terra working silently, Raven studying the blonde girl's trembling hands and scared face as she bangaged Raven's left arm, starting at the wrist and trying to calm her tense body as she worked her way up. _I don't want to think she could be capable of anything like that ever again, but......._

"What's this scar from?" Terra asked quietly, seeing the top of the long white scar that ran the lenght of Raven's chest. Her blue opticals filled themselves with a litteral concern as she glanced at it. "Did something happen to you guys after I..... left?" _Left being the easiest word for me to say........_

"It's..... It's from you, as you were leaving us last time." Raven hadn't meant for the words to come out so bitterly, but their hard edge did not shame her.

"I am so, so sorry......... Raven, I don't know what to say, except that I never meant it, never meant for anything like this to happen....... I can understand why you guys are probably going to throw me out, don't want me here......" Terra's voice caught on it's own tearful edge. "If I hadn't been so caught up....." Her hands finished the long bandage quietly and she looked around the room once more. _Looks like I'm not going to be staying here........._

"Hey, that's the past. You can always start over here..... You're right, you didn't mean for any of this to happen, and you deserve a second chance. Let the scars live in the past, Terra." Raven turned her back to Terra and began to dress again. "After all, what are friends for if they can't forgive you when you make a stupid mistake?"

"Raven..... Thank you."

"Don't bother. Help me fasten this, will you?" Raven smiled slightly as Terra came over and helped Raven to stand up, fastening the red gem with a quick ease, and the two of them left the small room. _I can't believe I still have a home here..... _Terra smiled. _At least SOMETHING has gone right over the course of two months........_

"I think we're going to have to do it tonight, before I go back into pieces..... The sooner we start, the sooner I forget," Lecita was saying. Cyborg was stroking her hair, which she had obviously washed, and, although her face still reflected inward hysterics, she was no longer sobbing. Cyborg sighed: Despite the fact that he knew she probably wouldn't respond, he wanted her to notice him more than anything else. _I just wanna help her out......_

"Alright, so we'll have the funeral in about an hour. Raven, will you be able to walk by then?" Robin looked over at Raven in concern.

"I'll be fine for a little while." Silence filled the room, Beast Boy holding Terra's hand, Cyborg looking at Lecita, trying to pull her away from her pointed determination to stare out the window, Robin trying to get Starfire to at least nod to something he whispered, and Raven sat alone, rubbing a hand over her injured arm, feeling the cuts in spite of herself. _Everyone's just so lost in their own thoughts, _said a voice in her head. _Nothing's going to change if we can't figure out how we're going to capture Slade and get back on our feet. _

_But how do you get back on your feet when you've been knocked down so many times?_


	16. Lost

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Well, after all the trouble I went through to get this file back ((And a lot of trouble with my school schedling... XX)) I THINK I'm ready to update again. Man, I miss the summer, when I had time to do this kind of stuff... At any rate, I'm complaining, you don't care, all the better reason to just get on with the freakin' fic, right?_

**Chapter Sixteen: Lost**

"Are you sure you're going to be able to do this" Cyborg caught up with Lecita and held her wrist, forcing her to look upward toward his face. "If you're not okay, we can find another way to do this, or I can stay inside with you and Rae and Robin will take care of burying her... I just hate seeing you so upset..." His voice broke, hoping the statement didn't send her back to sobbing, trying his hardest to keep her stable so that she wouldn't go to peices at the graveside. _I just wanna make her happy..._

"I'm alright, Cyborg. Really, it's okay now, I'm just... We have to go through this. I have friends like you guys and... And we'll get through it, I don't want you to worry about me..." Her eyes caught with his, and she tried to concentrate on his metalic eye, non-blinking, unemotional, and red. In truth, she was rather afraid of the other half of his face, because it was contorted in silent pain, as if he was feeling her pain and wished he could help her, blinking furiously to supress what looked like tears of real sadness. _Maybe he really does love me... _

Abesently, she took his hand, and he did not pull away, letting her nestle against him, her black coat replacing the hidious black assassin robe she'd been wearing, her legs suddenly too weak to leave his side. "I'm sorry... Let's just go now, there's no need for me to go to peices..." Cyborg, surprisingly, did not push her away, but continued to help her.

Raven stood nearby, head down, hood up. Above her, hanging sickly on a cloud of black magic, was a coffin, small and heavy oak, and her other hand was intertwined with Robin's. _He and I... I have to let him know I want him back... If he'll take me back..._

Lecita turned to Raven, her head nodding in Raven's general direction, and Beast Boy and Terra broke apart just long enough to open the door. Terra was looking upset by the death, even though she had not really known Anna: Beast Boy was just doing what he could to get by, because he had hated death and the concept of death ever since he was a small child. Raven stepped between them, her solem face even darker than usual, Robin at her side. The only sound was the rain, falling around them, soft as teardrops. _The heavens cry for us... _Raven stopped the thought before it could fully take depressing hold.

They stopped by the ocean, their eyes on the water as it came up onto the shore, and Robin found a peaceful looking spot where he and Cyborg had come out to dig the grave: The ground was moist and muddy, and Raven lay the coffin next to it, both fearful and tired of supporting it. _Poor Lecita... This has to have hit her hard... Some heros we are, if we can't even save those who we love and care about, how can we be responsible for this whole damn city? _Robin looked out over the water, but no answer came to his mind, and his question remained unanswered as the few other Titans filed in around him.

As Robin slowly began to talk, choosing his words carefully, obviously trying to come up with something that wasn't dramatic but rather simple and comforting, Terra found her thoughts wandering as her eyes settled over the open casket lid, her blonde hair matted to her forehead, Beast Boy's hand pushing it back in comfort. She knew how upset she looked, but the thoughts that were upsetting her became rather like a familer chant, strange and horrible. _What if I had done this? What if I had become a killer, killed the people I loved because I thought they were so evil? What would I have done then...? _She fell back against Beast Boy, not speaking, just happy that she had not picked that path, the path of a killer. _I'm happy in the mist of so much sadness... Is that wrong? I'm...confused..._

"I don't have much else I can say... Except that she was a wonderful person and even though she's passed on, we're going to remember her forever as... As a comrade... A friend... And..." Robin paused to catch his breath, a cold raindrop mixing with a tear, making it impossible for him to see how the others were doing, how they were taking the finality of the moment. "A wonderful little sister. She was... a part of our family, the Teen Titan family, and... And we're all going to miss her."

"May... May I have a final second of goodbye... Please" Lecita took a timid step away from Cyborg, her eyes full of pain, and Robin blinked, clearing his head although the rain made it hard. "Just... It's important to me."

Robin gave her a quiet nod. "Take all the time you need" he said in an oddly strangled whisper. "Losing someone is painful." He stepped back and Raven took his hand, her violet eyes looking straight into his, welling up with tears as her powers opened the lid, sheilding the sisters, and permiting Lecita a private final moment. _Don't lose your control... _Raven sighed, holding it in, feeling Robin's hand lift a tear from her cheek. "I love you, Raven." The words slipped out.

It was all she could do to keep her shelter for the coffin and the girl inside it steady and visible. "I'm... I'm so sorry about... About what I said, and... I'd really like it if we could... I love you too." His arm slipped around her frail shoulders and they stayed like that, listening to Lecita murmmer until her head reappered. "I'm ready" her voice called to them finally, and they heard the heavy lid shut. She went back to Cyborg with her face stained with tears, but neither of them could say a word.

Raven felt her hand going in comands with her mind, although the part of her locked away, her heart, was surging with emotions, she refused to let them effect her concentration as she set the large oak coffin down, moved the headstone, and covered it, shuddering, still feeling Robin comforting her, trying to convince her she could do it. Finally, the task done, Raven moved away and the others moved away from the graveside, Lecita refusing to look over her shoulder. "Don't look back" Cyborg heard her whisper, and felt worse than ever.

Everyone sat inside, changed clothing and brushed hair shining in the light even though their eyes and hearts could not have reflected anymore differently. Terra snuggled against Beast Boy, both sleeping with a look of happiness on their faces, the rain still falling outside, Cyborg sat with Lectia again, talking, the pair of them trying to forget the past, and Robin sat with Raven on the same window ledge where they had gotten together. "Robin... do you know what tonight is"

"No..." He stared, bewildered. _What could I have forgotten...?_

"It's our two month aniversary..." She took his hand quietly, and the pair of them stared out into the rain, so different from the warm, atmospheric sunset that had lain behind them at one point. "I know you don't feel much like celebrating, but... I just wanted to let you know I'm really, really glad we're together."

Robin leaned against her shoulder, knowing in his heart that he was happy he had not been the one to bring up the date. "I'm... I'm glad too, Rae." She leaned over to him and gave him a kiss, both of them lost once again in their love. "Let's not fight anymore... I'm so sorry about earlier... About the other day..."

"Forget it. It was as much my fault as yours, and... We need to finish Slade this time. We need to take care of it, no more waiting, no more betrayal, no more hurt. My gift to you is going to be a protected world." _I may not feel much like a hero anymore, but I'm not about to lose Raven, the team... I won't._

"Cyborg... Can we talk" _Do it now. Do it while you can't feel anything, while you need love... Do it for your sister._

"Sure..." He couldn't have felt more lost. "What do you want to talk about"


	17. Finish This

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Well, I'm glad to see this chapter didn't go anywhere, I recived yet another warning and it's been sitting in my document manager for quite some time now. Anyway,here you go, new chapter, enjoy._

**Chapter Seventeen: Finish This**

"Well... I've been trying to tell you this forever, but... I really, really like you, Cyborg." She felt the words tumble over each other, more of a breath than a statement, and she sighed. _Now he'll never like me... _She couldn't believe what an idiot she felt like, and gazed off to the side of the room, to where Raven and Robin sat. _I wonder what it feels like for people to care about each other that much... To actually have it be more than one-sided... _Longing filled her eyes, and she turned them back to Cyborg, trying to subdude her fear and feelings.

"I... I like you too," he said, rather stupidly, and the part of his face that was human blushed horribly dark, which was difficult, because dark skin should never get hot enough to blush. "I... I have for a while, and..." A small smile, although it was not enough to luminate his face, appered there and stayed.

"Cyborg... Would you guys be willing to let me stay here...?" Her voice trailed off. "Just for a little while. I want... I want to take down Slade. I want to finish him... For Anna." She gave him a serious look, and his smile fell: He almost couldn't remember what he had done wrong. His heart felt the pang even though his head told him to get a grip: _She likes you, man, and she's just upset._

"Of course you can stay here," Cyborg said quietly. "The Titans are a family. We're here to help you through stuff like this." _That was LAME... _He said in his head, although his face reflected no feelings, just outward, radiating concern. "And if nothing else, I'm always here for you."

Lecita let herself rest against him, her head against his arm, and they hugged. Lecita bent herself up slightly, her lips moving for his, and he lowered his head: The picture of innocence will silouted for a moment, and they moved quickly, queitly closer... A red light suddenly caused them to break apart. Lecita looked wide-eyed for a minute or two: Even though she had heard it before, the alarm was still startling to her in the quick way it caused a person to become a hero, react, THINK.

"Let's go."

"Go where?" Lecita asked, ready to move, ready to react, ready to fight, because love was not the only thing in her veins: Her heart pumped sorrow, hearthrob and anger, hurt, but also love and hope, and the sensation was so strong that all she wanted to do was FIGHT, run and jump and take her revenge... All while sobbing her heart out. _So this is how they live, what they live for when everything is gone..._

"To fight. Slade is back, and I made a promise." Robin's face was set: He wasn't telling where they were going or what the mission was, but it spread like an unknown wildfire: Slade was what they were fighting against. This was their last stand, do or die: But the agreement also passed that they had to try, to make it for themselves no matter what.

She could hardly understand what they were doing outside there, sitting in the seat, watching Raven and Robin strattle a bike together: It seemed so far away, so insanly far away, that she had first seen them together like that, riding off to whatever would come. _We're like that now... _She watched Cyborg clentch his teeth, eyes squinted on Robin, following him to the crime, folowing him to the fight. _We'll get through this together._

The warehouse was crumbling, falling to peices, and everyone stopped to look at it: The seven faces reflected a sense of destiny, of hope and yet of fear, and no one could describe what they really felt as they stared at it. "This is it," Raven mumbled to Robin as they dismounted, and he nodded and squeezed her hand: He was scared enough for the both of them, even if she couldn't show him how afraid she was.

"Is everyone ready?" The leader seemed to be asking not them but himself, looking around, ready to fight, trying to tell himself it would all be alright in the end if he knew otherwise in his head. "We've just got to stick together!"

"Let us... Finish this." Starfire, who hadn't spoken since long before the funeral, seemed to come back to her senses. "When Slade is taken, everything shall return to normal, yes?" She backed up and stood next to Beast Boy, who still had his arm on Terra, and knew her emotions were surfacing quickly: She was going to fight this battle to the death if need be.

"Is everyone ready?" Robin looked around: Shining anger, betrayal, love, and a sense of unity burned, possiably for the final time.

"Robin, we've got to just go, before we lose nerve," Terra pointed out in a rational voice. Instead of talking, Beast Boy and Raven forced the side door open, and feet echoed within for the first ((or second, assuming Slade was there)) time in the twenty years since it had been closed off from the public, from the surrounding world.

"So, ready, Titans?"

"We're going to finish this!" _And I'm going to protect everyone, including Raven.I promised her peace. I will give her peace! _Thoughtlessly, with a rageful cry he wasn't quite aware came from his own vocal cords, he attacked, moving in on Slade. "Die!"

_Raventhedarkgoddess: Soon this story is going to be finished, so I hope you guys at least somewhat enjoyed reading it, I know it's not all that great. At any rate, enjoy what I have up. Thank you for your continued support. _


	18. Hopeless Peace

_Raventhedarkgoddess: I'm just going straight into the story, too lazy to type a note this time. Yay for lazy people._

**Chapter Eighteen: Hopeless Peace**

Slade chuckled. That was all there was to it was to it, not a laugh or a swelling wrentch of gut, just a chuckle, as if putting forth more effort would have been pointless when faced with a situation such as this one. "Pathetic," he spat, the word coming out on one harsh breath. "Do you think vegance, that fighting back and shedding more blood, is the answer to your pathetic quest for a non-existent peace?"

"I don't want to hear another word out of you!" Cyborg came up behind him, shot a blast of cold, hard blast of light, hoping to knock Slade off his feet, but no such luck: Out came Slade's bow-staff, and he twisted his entire body in such a manner that he landed, cat-like, on his feet, standing upright, his glare continuing.

"You don't like the truth? I thought you fought for truth, justice, and..." Here he paused for only a second to move over slightly, dodging rocks Terra attemped to use to stop him from speaking. "But of course, hypocrites are always in the way of this world."

"We are not hypocrites!" Starfire tried to move in on the villan, but he clipped her arm with his staff and the blood began to flow in a way that made her feel unaturally weak and helpless. She drew back in the formation attacking Titans, feeling small and, once again, unwanted by anyone or anything in the world around her.

The same chuckle, metalic and cold, echoed around the room, rolling over the walls and echoing within their hearts themselves. "Of course you're not. What about my underling? You killed him, and then you left him to die. Does that make you good people? You thought you killed Terra, killed me, because we were bad people. Does that make it right? Does killing done by good people make your form of killing right? Well?"

"Shut up!" Robin was furious, angry, because Slade was exploiting his thoughts, projecting them from within his head onto the walls, the ceiling, and the warehouse around them. _But how can he know me and what I think... I've got to finish this! _Raven's face came into his mind even as he stared at her hooded back, reminded him of what he had vowed to do. "Just shut up!"

"Listen to yourself, Robin. You're just a scared little kid, telling yourself more lies. Tell the truth, Robin: What are you really trying to do when peace is false and the world falls apart around you with every little thing you try to do?" His eye, the one that could always be seen, was peircing: No way was slad laughing, he wasn't mocking Robin, he couldn't believe that...

Robin opened his mouth to yell, to scream, to reply that it wasn't false, that peace could only be achived with some people dead, but Beast Boy saved him from answering in a way he knew couldn't be the truth: He slammed into Slade's side, and this time, caught off guard, Slade staggered, fell toward the hard ground, and was kicked by Lecita, who had come in from seemingly out of nowhere. Slade looked up in time to recive a hard blast of sonic cannon to the face.

"Don't ever say that there's such a thing as a false peice again. Ever," Lecita whispered. "Besides, the evil in this world deserves to die, and I'm going to stand beside this team ever step of the way if it means killing evil like you."

"So evil is black and white, you think? How do you know that every person isn't a bit evil? Everyone has evil in their heart, and hate, and you're not even trying to hide how much you hate me. So why do you bother? If you can't stick to and follow your morals, you're not a hero, you're a coward and a fake. That's all you are. The Teen Titans are not heros. They're fakes and liars and nothing more. That's all you will ever be. And you, Robin, are their lead..."

A black ball of energy hit Slade in the chest where he lie. "You're going to be quiet. We're going to take you to jail, and we're going to be the kind of 'good' you don't seem to think exists. You have a choice: Either take a chance on life, or keep talking about what you don't understand and die right here." The monotone was heavy, the voice slightly differnet in a way none of the team understood, her face unseen, so no one could tell exactly what she was thinking, but the position of her upper body said it all: Move and I will kill you.

"I understand. Just another way for you to avoid the facts, Ms. Roth. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to destroy your life with Robin, or anything to come between you, because things like that are important to you. You, who doesn't really feel a thing... You'd laugh while you killed me if it wouldn't make you look like the sick, cold-hearted person that you really are..." Slade was testing his luck and his eyes showed it, gleaming with a sense of pride in what he was saying: _I will give you something to think about before I go, _they threatened. _And you will be sorry for your own actions..._

Raven's mouth was open, her hand was raised, but Robin moved in, his eyes burning behind the mask. "Don't ever talk like that about her, ever!" Bow-staff raised, he moved in on Slade, saw his friend's faces, theirobvious horror,but couldn't stop. "This may put me on your level, but if it will stop you from taking the lives of people more innocent, I'll live through the guilt again!" He knew what he had to do and felt the staff moving down, slower and slower, and then...

A sick smack. Then silence seemed to press on Robin's ears, and he couldn't hear anyone. He just felt that, in his heart, even if it made him evil, letting evil live couldn't be right. _Did I do the right thing, though?_

Several minutes passed where, from behind Robin's eyes, everyone stared and everyone was still, even though in fact some were talking, and Beast Boy was clutching, slightly horrified, to a wide-eyed Terra, and Raven was calling his name as if from at the end of a long, echoing tunnel. "I... did it again..." His hands, his staff, were covered in blood, and he couldn't seem to figure out who he was, holding his hands out, staring at them. _The hands of more evil... _Slade's voice seemed to be saying in his head.

The drive back to the Tower was silent, the car full of quiet teenagers. Robin had insisted he ride on alone, and so Raven, almost motionless,sat in her seat, shotgun, in the T-car. "Cyborg, do you think he'll be okay?" Robin was flying through the rain on the back of his R-Cycle, almostinvisiblefor them to see,and she knew that in his head he must be seeing the same thing they were: Himself killing a being, becoming drenched in the blood, hearing Slade's words.

"He's got to battle his own demons, Rae," Cyborg replied, knowing that was as close to an answer as he could come. Lectia gave him a rather shy half-smile in the rearveiw mirror and he returned it, not really knowing what else to do. Everything, including the importance of being together with her, felt overshadowed now by the death and Slade's final words.

_Dammit. Stupid idiotic bastard! He would have killed my friends, but he was playing head games... I'm just as bad as he was. _Water sprayed the eye shield of his helmet, but it was ignored, and he proceded to test the speed out, almost sliding on several occasions, half of him wishing he hadn't declined to have Raven there to slow him down if he ended up becoming too crazy. _There is no right answer, is there...?_

"Friend Robin must do the 'slowing down', yes?" Starfire asked quietly, watching the wheels skid, noticing how he barely managed to regain control. "Feeling sadness is no reason to attempt to cause your own death."

"We're here, Star," Terra pointed out. "And Robin's just not thinking clearly. He'll be fine. We all make mistakes, after all." Cyborg eased into the small parking garage of the tower and everone climbed out, Raven moving the quickest up the stairs. _I've got to talk to Robin, _her mind said. _He has to understand that he can't let it weigh on him... That he kept his promise... None of this would have happened if he hadn't promised me something that was impossible._

"You okay, Raven?" Lecita asked her quietly. "You seem really, really out of it, and I couldn't help but hear you say something was your fault just now..." Cyborg came up behind her and so she said nothing else, but her eyes plainly said that she still wanted an answer.

"I'm fine." _A lie, _hissed the voice inside her head, which she ignored and made her way into the tower's main living room, where a soaking wet Robin had collaped on the couch. Cyborg and Lecita looked at each other, once, then twice. "Uh... We're going to go downstairs and do some work on the car," Lecita said quickly, obviously just wanting an excuse to leave the room but trying to act as if work on Cyborg's car was what the two of them had actually planned all along. Cyborg said nothing else, only nodded, and the pair of them headed downstairs.

"I'm gonna help Terra set up her room," Beast Boy said, not as slow as he appered, and the two of them moved for the stairs quickly, so that they would not be caught in the middle. Terra glanced once over her shoulder: _For a leader, he sure is letting this get to him._

"May I join in the 'setting up'?" Starfire asked them, feeling lost and alone in spite of herself, in spite of telling herself she wouldn't do that anymore, wouldn't be upset because she was still friends with everyone.

"Sure," Terra said quickly. Anything to get away from Robin and Raven, from the tears in his eyes and the obvious need for words in hers._Even I can't fix everything, _they seemed to say.

* * *

"So, Cyborg... I guess I got here at a really bad time, and most of this is my fault... If you really don't want to date me, all you have to do is say so, you know that, don't you?" Lecita looked at him, her eyes large, her face drawn in a tight line. "I mean..." She felt her face blush: She was doing nothing but babbling. 

"Nah, you've had a rough time, besides, you fit in here. And why wouldn't I want to date you? It's not like you told Robin to kill him or anything. Besides, I love you, or I wouldn't have agreed to date you in the first place, now would I?" Cyborg kept the human part of his face kind, wishing he could arrange the mechanical into a more kind face. Instead, however, it remained cold and hard. _I've got one of those faces no one can love, no matter how much they try, _he found himself thinking for no real reason at all.

"I love you too," she managed through the block coming up in her throat. "Cyborg, do you think Robin would let me become a member of the team for good? I don't have anywhere else to go, and..."

"Shh, don't talk like that. The Titans are all one big family, we talked about you staying here before when... I mean, with your sister. I'll help you fix your room up later this week, and... I'm really happy you want to stay with us," Cyborg concluded very lamely.

Shocked at her own daring and the feelings seizing her, she quietly leaned over and kissed him on his lips. "Me too," she whispered, pulling back, smiling at him. "Me too."

"Everything's gonna be all right, Lecita." Cyborg looked over at her with an apprasing smile, and suddenly the metal side of his face didn't feel so ugly. "Everything's gonna be all right."

* * *

"I think that's everything, Terra." Beast Boy was looking around the room, at Starfire and Terra, who were cleaned up and collaped on the bed. "Most of the stuff was in place, but this looks really good now." 

"Yeah, thanks, you two," Terra replied, smiling and looked at Beast Boy, then Starfire. "You're both great friends." She stood up and walked over to Beast Boy, not even bothering to be discrete as she gave him a hug. He smiled and hugged her back.

Starfire looked at the two of them standing side by side, looking into each other's eyes, and was surprised to realize that she felt nothing: No passion for Beast Boy, no anger at Terra, nothing. All she saw were a pair of friends, holding onto each other and acknolwaging her as their friend. "You are a great friend as well, Terra. As is everyone else in the Tower." Robin came into her mind, but now she only wanted to comfort him: The old longing, the familer need to kiss and hold him, was gone.

Terra smiled, thinking about how ironic this coversation was. "The places I've been, the things I've done... I really don't deserve a home like this, you two." The other two only shook their heads, smiling.

"You belong with us." Beast Boy kissed her cheek and Terra grinned. One thought was running through her mind, over and over, making her smile, allowing her to love and to laugh along with them.

_I'm accepted at last.

* * *

_

"Robin, come on, please sit up or at least look at me. You can't make it any better if you lay there with your head in the couch and refuse to look at anyone." Raven was attempting to coax him out of his position, in which he looked pathetic and small. "If you don't get up and talk about it, you're just going to abandon me, and that wouldn't be right after everything you've been through just to get here, now would it?" 

"I broke my promise. I can't give you peace, or a free world to live in, and I can't save either of us. I'm just a loser who killed somebody because he thought it made him right. I'm just as wrong as Slade, Raven!" Even though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew they were most likely puffy and painfully bloated behind the mask he wore. Unable to make him come out of his position, she shook his arm quietly, pleading with him while still trying to surpress the pain, failing to fully hide all of the emotions raging at her from under their surface.

"You are not. You did save me. You saved the whole team back there. If you give up, so will everyone else. Don't they mean anything to you, or are you just going to lay there on this couch and ignore me? I'm trying to let you know that I still care about you, and you can't even make yourself look at me... Are you going to give up on life just because of something the enemy said?"

"We're all the enemy. Didn't you hear him? I kill, I'm as bad as he is. Is it really right for us to kill, to fight back on something that you are? I'm just as wrong as he is. Two wrongs will never make it right." He sat up and leaned against her, and her supicions were confirmed, the tear trails coming from under his mask and clinging to his face. "You're the only one I've ever known with a really clean heart. You always want what's best for people, Raven. I don't understand why you think I need to get up."

"Because you're the one person I've ever risked defying my emotions for. I love you, Robin, and if you die, I will too, because you're keeping me alive inside." She bit her lip, fought back the emotion, fought back the tears. "You're not evil. Who cares if every heart has some evil in it? Why should you care? He would have killed innocent," she added softly. "He would have killed everyone you vowed to protect. Is that what you wanted, no guilt and Slade still at large?"

"No, but Raven... If I'm just like he is, then I deserve to be dead too."

"Robin, the world can never really be rid of evil. You're nothing likeSlade.If you want to try to protect someone, you can do it. You protected me, and in a way, you didn't break your promise at all." He was leaning against her, like a doctile child who needed her guidence, her assurence and her love. Her hand went through his hair silently , and he could feel her eyes on him, caring for him with the emotions within.

She kissed his lips without a word, seeing he was thinking, not responding. He kissed her back and then pulled away. "Raven, I finally figured it out." He wiped a tear away with some force, some serious thought reflected in his face.

"What, Robin?"

"No matter how hard I try, everything's going to have it's downside, and we all breath and bleed, but we live on, and... That's what life is all about. Not being good, not being evil, but fighting back and knowing that we can fight back regardless. I've been being stupid, thinking it's all divided. We've just got to live and learn and love, don't we?" Robin looked at her as if she had held the answer all along.

"Yes, Robin." She smiled at him and he leaned toward her, putting his lips over hers, her powers finally escaping, the window shattering in a distant corner of the room. _Yes we do._


End file.
